one more and i'll shut up

[paul.]

had to show y'all this fish.  it's one of my babies that i'm trying to grow.  this one is just off the charts.  4lbs. 5oz. at only 17.5"!  according to charts folks have shown me, a healthy 17.5" bass is "supposed to" weigh  anywhere from 3 to 3.3 pounds or about 3lbs. 5oz.  using that as a standard.  this fish weighed a whopping pound more than what it was supposed to at a mere 17.5"!  don't mean to brag and i hope this ain't taken that way.  it's just that i'm pretty stoked about this.  looks like my plan is working!  the part that i'm happiest about is that these are regular old 2 pound kentucky lake "mutt bass" that i'm starting with.  barely 15" keepers.  no special strains or genetics.  here's a couple of pics.  the first is a view from the top.  a little hard to see due to the reflection (sorry :-[) but still easy see this bass' overall shape.  look how small the head is.  look how thick the fish is.  the next is a shot from the side.  girth on this fish is just freakish.  o.k., i'm done now.  thanks for bearing with me.  just hard not to get excited when you are able to produce fish like this.  hope y'all are catchin' some too.

[J Francho]

Paul, do you run into any complications from massive growth? I can recall issues when I ran my cichlid hatchery with "power feeding" fry to get them ready for sale sooner. Maybe it isn't an issue when the fish are over a certain size class hump?

That is a freaking beautiful fish, BTW.

[1234567]

good lord, nice job!

[SoFlaBassAddict]

Wow.  That is one fat little fish. I'd say your plan is working just fine.

[evrgladesbasser]

That's a fatty alright. I don't think I would recognize that as a bass if I caught it down here

[OHIO]

That is one ugly fish, but in a good way.  ;D

[Shane J]

That's a beauty, Paul! That's the fish that grabbed my football, ate it, and swam away. Did you get my ball back?

[paul.]

Paul, do you run into any complications from massive growth?  I can recall issues when I ran my cichlid hatchery with "power feeding" fry to get them ready for sale sooner.  Maybe it isn't an issue when the fish are over a certain size class hump

thanks guys.  complications from massive growth?  well yeah, there are a few.  broken lines, straightened hooks, and excessive wear and tear on equipment are the main ones that come to mind. ;D

seriously, i don't think about it too much J.  i just do the best i can with the limited resources i have, hope for the best, and let the chips fall where they may.  i've been doing this for a while kinda as a hobby, but i'm starting to get real serious with it.   perhaps if i knew exactly what type of complications you were talking about, i'd be able to answer better.  actually i am very interested in your "complications" because i'd much rather avoid making mistakes than to have to try to fix them. 

that said, i am confident enough in what i am doing and what i have learned through trial and error that i honestly believe that i could start from scratch over and over and duplicate these results time and time again.  i guess you could say i have a "system" in place now.  you are exactly right though J.  in my efforts to grow these fish i have made plenty of mistakes, but i have tried very hard to learn from those.  success comes with a price sometimes, particlularly when you are trying to push the envelope beyond reasonable limits.  basically what i am trying to do is to take very "normal" fish and turn them into abnormally large fish.  i guess you could say i'm trying to overcome natural genetic limitations with management strategy (and a poor man's management strategy at that ;D).  as you found out with your hatchery, that's not always an easy thing to do because mother nature tends to resist being tinkered with sometimes.  you learn quickly that you can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs.  no matter how you try to spin it, it's a blood sport and some fish are just not gonna make it.  the way i see it, with my plan the fish that have what it takes to become special will become special.   those that don't will fall by the wayside.  i hate it when things don't work out, but i still accept it as part of the process.  the fish of the future will benefit from the failures of the past.

fortunately to this point, there have not been any major setbacks.  maybe i'm just lucky.  either way, i'm "all in" now and enjoying every minute of it.

[Big-O]

Not all fish that set heavy weight records are superior genetic freaks...but they are superior feeding freaks, just like some of yours are Paul  I think I might be a superior feeder too, I am getting huge in my older years 

Big O

www.ragetail.com

[J Francho]

Paul, do you run into any complications from massive growth? I can recall issues when I ran my cichlid hatchery with "power feeding" fry to get them ready for sale sooner. Maybe it isn't an issue when the fish are over a certain size class hump

thanks guys. complications from massive growth? well yeah, there are a few. broken lines, straightened hooks, and excessive wear and tear on equipment are the main ones that come to mind. ;D

seriously, i don't think about it too much J. i just do the best i can with the limited resources i have, hope for the best, and let the chips fall where they may. i've been doing this for a while kinda as a hobby, but i'm starting to get real serious with it. perhaps if i knew exactly what type of complications you were talking about, i'd be able to answer better. actually i am very interested in your "complications" because i'd much rather avoid making mistakes than to have to try to fix them.

that said, i am confident enough in what i am doing and what i have learned through trial and error that i honestly believe that i could start from scratch over and over and duplicate these results time and time again. i guess you could say i have a "system" in place now. you are exactly right though J. in my efforts to grow these fish i have made plenty of mistakes, but i have tried very hard to learn from those. success comes with a price sometimes, particlularly when you are trying to push the envelope beyond reasonable limits. basically what i am trying to do is to take very "normal" fish and turn them into abnormally large fish. i guess you could say i'm trying to overcome natural genetic limitations with management strategy (and a poor man's management strategy at that ;D). as you found out with your hatchery, that's not always an easy thing to do because mother nature tends to resist being tinkered with sometimes. you learn quickly that you can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs. no matter how you try to spin it, it's a blood sport and some fish are just not gonna make it. the way i see it, with my plan the fish that have what it takes to become special will become special. those that don't will fall by the wayside. i hate it when things don't work out, but i still accept it as part of the process. the fish of the future will benefit from the failures of the past.

fortunately to this point, there have not been any major setbacks. maybe i'm just lucky. either way, i'm "all in" now and enjoying every minute of it.

Very cool stuff Paul. By complications, I guess I wasn't really sure what I was asking for, though bent hooks and broken lines sounds perfectly uncomplicated, lol. I was wondering if there was any analogy to my smaller, closed system hatchery and growout tanks. Granted, comparing a couple thousand gallons of water to a lake probably doesn't shake out fairly. I ran into some things, like excessive nitrates, which despite fat bellies, stunted growth, and a few bone deformities, probably a result from depletion of minerals in the water. Those issues were easily fixed, but I was just wondering if you encountered any similar failures. Like you said, learn from your failures, and it looks like you have success right now.

Anyway, I'm wandering, LOL. Beautiful fish, keep us updated. I want to see a 25x25" fish next year!

[senile1]

Nice little football there, Paul.

[Rand]

Paul well done!!!! That's an unreal specimen. Keep the pics coming. You deserve to spread it around with results like that.

[Dan:]

Looks delicious!

Simmer down now, I'm just kidding.

[TrippyJai]

Great looking fish. Such a fatty!

[Redlinerobert]

Frankenfish!  Cant wait to see the size of that beast in a few years.