Do you think they have diminished the forage base or the forage isn't the appropriate size to cause the slowed growth.
SB,
I'm not 100% sure. I have noticed that I don't catch as many 3-5" BG and GSF as I used to. That fact, and maybe the turbidity of the pond in the past year has slowed down their growth. LMB are predominately sight feeders. However, I do have a fair amount of structure (Christmas Trees and other) for the forage fish to hide. I do see a fair amount of gambusia in the shallows (adult size and smaller). The LSL LMB have just started biting recently. It was a rare event to catch one in the past on artificial lures. I stopped (2) erosive washes from my aggressive watershed earlier this summer with larger stone. I'm thinking that and the ag lime I added earlier this year helped clear up some of the turbidity.
