how old?

[yankthatsucker]

whats the typical age for a 10lb largemouth?

[Bassaholic84]

It will vary depending on  the water.  If there is lots of forage it could only be a couple years if its overpopulated with bass and not much forage a bass may never reach ten lbs.  It would also depend on the largemouth strain.  Florida or North American Bass

[yankthatsucker]

wow i would have def thought alot older than a couple yrs

[Low_Budget_Hooker]

Depends where she is from

[mattm]

Could it really only be a couple of years though?  That sounds far fetched regardless.  I would think even in optimal, controlled conditions it would take 4-5 years.  

At 4 years it would need to gain 2.5lbs per year.  I see no way that its doing that its first year.  So that means it is playing catch up after that.

[George Welcome]

Florida strain:

Age and Growth - Growth rates are highly variable with differences attributed mainly to their food supply and length of growing season. Female bass live longer than males and are much more likely to reach trophy size. By age two or three, females grow much faster than male bass. Males seldom exceed 16 inches, while females frequently surpass 22 inches. At five years of age females may be twice the weight of males. One-year old bass average about seven inches in length and grow to an adult size of 10 inches in about 1-1/2 to 2-1/2 years. The oldest bass from Florida whose age has been determined by fisheries biologists was 16 year of age. Generally, trophy bass (10 pounds and larger) are about 10 years old. The formula used by Florida scientists to estimate weight based on length and girth is: log(weight, in grams) = -4.83 + 1.923 x log(total length, in mm) + 1.157 x log(girth, in mm). Click here for an automated formula, and here to determine how to properly measure your fish.

Typically a two-year bass will be between 10 and 13 inches. With ideal conditions a growth rate of 2-pounds per year can be seen from the 3rd year on, with a drop in growth rate after the attainment of 22-24 inches. However, ideal condtions are very rare.

[mattm]

Thanks!

[steelhorse1]

whats the easyest way to tell the age

[yankthatsucker]

Florida strain:

Age and Growth - Growth rates are highly variable with differences attributed mainly to their food supply and length of growing season. Female bass live longer than males and are much more likely to reach trophy size. By age two or three, females grow much faster than male bass. Males seldom exceed 16 inches, while females frequently surpass 22 inches. At five years of age females may be twice the weight of males. One-year old bass average about seven inches in length and grow to an adult size of 10 inches in about 1-1/2 to 2-1/2 years. The oldest bass from Florida whose age has been determined by fisheries biologists was 16 year of age. Generally, trophy bass (10 pounds and larger) are about 10 years old. The formula used by Florida scientists to estimate weight based on length and girth is: log(weight, in grams) = -4.83 + 1.923 x log(total length, in mm) + 1.157 x log(girth, in mm). Click here for an automated formula, and here to determine how to properly measure your fish.

Typically a two-year bass will be between 10 and 13 inches. With ideal conditions a growth rate of 2-pounds per year can be seen from the 3rd year on, with a drop in growth rate after the attainment of 22-24 inches. However, ideal condtions are very rare.

thorough  

[Bassaholic84]

Check out this article http://www.bassresource.com/fish_biology/raising_trophy_bass.html

It talks about a guy that got 4 pounders and a couple sixs in two years they were an inch when he stocked them. Then he created a slot limit on his pond and it diminished his trophy bass. Its a great article

[George Welcome]

Check out this article http://www.bassresource.com/fish_biology/raising_trophy_bass.html

It talks about a guy that got 4 pounders and a couple sixs in two years they were an inch when he stocked them. Then he created a slot limit on his pond and it diminished his trophy bass. Its a great article

A nice story yes, but a great article no.

[hottop]

Florida strain bass can and do reach 12-15+lbs in NEW lakes that are anywhere from 5-7 years old.  The keys are FS bass and new lakes in a moderate climate and I am not just talking about California.

Look at the Texas record, it came 7 yrs after stocking FS bass.  

[-HAWK-]

Why is it that the lake must be NEW? Do older lakes start to get overpopulated with smaller bass, therefore eliminating the abundance of prey for the few BIG fish? Also why must it be a moderate climate? Dont Bass Flourish in places like Cuba and Mexico..

I dont know thats why I am asking.. I have always thought that a native fish to Florida would be in it's optimal growing conditions in it's native enviorment.

[Bassnajr]

You need to cut it in half and count the rings.....

[George Welcome]

Florida strain bass can and do reach 12-15+lbs in NEW lakes that are anywhere from 5-7 years old. The keys are FS bass and new lakes in a moderate climate and I am not just talking about California.

Look at the Texas record, it came 7 yrs after stocking FS bass.

"Fishing has been particularly good due to fishery management efforts of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department who began stocking Lake Fork with Florida largemouth bass in 1978. Lake Fork was opened for fishing in the fall of 1980. A new state record largemouth bass weighing 18.18 pounds was caught from Lake Fork in January 1992." (I believe that is 14 years after stocking) However Fork is/was a tributary of the Sabine river and there certainly was bass there before the dam was build.

The most difficult thing to learn is reality in this sport of ours. I would encourage anyone that wishes to learn to do some research in publications other than fishing magazines. The growth in bass is not linear. It is slow in the beginning, accelerates for a period, and then slows again. The separation of fact and fiction is a real challenge.

[Catt]

Just a little Lake Fork history

Lake Fork was created as a textbook fishery, including initial stockings before the lake filled. Lake Fork was established, by the Texas Parks and Wildlife, as a premier bass fishing lake, with 732,514 Florida Black Bass being stocked from 1979 through 1987.

Tale of the Tape

27,000 acres of prime bass fishing.

State Record 18.18-pounder caught by Barry St. Clair in 1992.

The six heaviest bass in Texas and 34 of Texas' Top 50.

456 entries in the Budweiser ShareLunker program, each weighing more than 13 pounds.

4,125 bass weighing in excess of 7 pounds reported in a voluntary survey during the last two years.

A 16- to 24-inch slot limit.

[hottop]

I just threw the Fork example off the top of my head, I was wrong on the timeline. However as Bob Lusk, who is very reputable, stated in his article he has seen 6lbers 3 yrs after stocking. I know of public lakes that are kicking out huge fish, 15lbs, that have only been open for 4yrs making the fish 6yrs old.

[Bassboss]

Depends on what part of the US!

[Rich K]

I have also heard, but never tried it, that you can remove a scale from the fish. If you are in a colder climate, there will be growth rings noticeable on the scales. But that only holds true if there is a growing season that is induced by cold weather. Renders that useless for FS bass...

[WRB]

It is almost impossible to answer the original question, due to the unlimited factors involved. Environmental conditions and the lakes ecosystem changes daily.

The fastest growth rate that I'm aware of occured at lake Isabella in California where pure FLMB grew to 12lbs in 7 years, then 18 to 19 lbs in 12 years. Conditions were perfect, today it is rare to catch a bass over 12 lbs at Isabella. The majority of california's giant bass over 15 lbs are at least 10 years old, some 10 lber's are 7 years. Like any animal, bass don't keep growing with age, they get to a maximum weight, then start to deteriorate as they get older and finally die.

The largest male bass I know of was 16 years at 7 lbs, I caught this bass from lake San Vincente in 1973, during spawning period. Larry Bothoff, the area biologist, examined the bass as it was a rare catch. Both my largest bass (18.8 & 19.3) were about 14 years old, if the scale rings were accurate.

WRB

[Rich K]

It is almost impossible to answer the original question, due to the unlimited factors involved. Environmental conditions and the lakes ecosystem changes daily.

The fastest growth rate that I'm aware of occured at lake Isabella in California where pure FLMB grew to 12lbs in 7 years, then 18 to 19 lbs in 12 years. Conditions were perfect, today it is rare to catch a bass over 12 lbs at Isabella. The majority of california's giant bass over 15 lbs are at least 10 years old, some 10 lber's are 7 years. Like any animal, bass don't keep growing with age, they get to a maximum weight, then start to deteriorate as they get older and finally die.

The largest male bass I know of was 16 years at 7 lbs, I caught this bass from lake San Vincente in 1973, during spawning period. Larry Bothoff, the area biologist, examined the bass as it was a rare catch. Both my largest bass (18.8 & 19.3) were about 14 years old, if the scale rings were accurate.

WRB

That's it! I am moving to California!  ;D