I had excellent luck transporting 1+ lb. lmb 4 hours in April & November in Texas. I only stocked my pond with adult bass after setting up a forage buffet a year prior. I also enjoy catching and introducing a fish from foreign waters when it's close to 100% RW for it's size...in my opinion, it resets the gene pool. Especially if you're fishing waters where F1's were introduced, they are the key to heavyweight action! I would rather trust the relative weight of a fantastic looking bass for free, as opposed to paying $40 for a single 5 pounder...do the math \:\) then measure how much fun you had doing it!