jpsdad,

I like the fishing anecdote - especially if young ones catching more fish is the primary goal of the pond management!

LMB (and other fish) will strike for reasons other than eating. I have caught large bass on tiny lures. I don't know if they decided to "eat" a small meal that was going right past their mouth, or if they wanted to "punch" an intruder in their home - but they lacked fists.

We have also caught a 9# CC on a tiny hook with a bit of worm while fishing for BG. The CC was only landed because the curve of the hook was perfectly wrapped under the cats lower jawbone, so the fish could only exert force on the straight shank. I don't know if the large cat struck the tiny bit of worm because his whiskers could only signal "worm" without conveying the quantity of worm?


Snipe,

Thanks for weighing in on your koi experience! I think that project will be a very informative study if the state ever does a publication of their results. Even if the koi portion is not easily reproducible in farm ponds, it still provides some data as to the top end of potential growth rates.

If pond managers can get close by other means, then they would know they are very close to the optimum.