Hey all, this week is going to be the start of a long awaited project for me. For context, I have a backyard pond that's about 5000 gallons in Southern California. This is going to be pretty ambitious as the title of the thread suggests, but I think I have a very real shot at doing this considering my climate and setup. This week, I am getting my fingerling Florida bass that are the best of the best in terms of genetic potential to grow giant. They are some special fish that's for sure. These fish will start at 1-3".
Currently the pond houses a forest of anacharis, water lilies, driftwood, boulders, rock, gravel, pickerel bog plants, a wetland filtration system, a large mechanical/biological filter, UV clarifier, waterfalls and a huge aerator. The pond maintains temperature through the winter above 50 degrees, and ranges between 75-84 degrees in the summer, consistently around 78-80. I have an extended growing season for my fish because of these mild temps, often with warm autumn and winter temps extending the growing season past 9 months annually.
The pond has plenty of aquatic insects that lay eggs and other invertebrates. I have stocked it with scuds as well and will be putting more in this week as a cleanup crew and live forage for young fish. To start my bass off, they will have several thousand fathead minnows and golden shiners as their starter forage. These baitfish I am gutloading daily with omega one freshwater flakes to ideally ensure they are stronger against parasites and disease, while also balancing their profile out to combat thiaminase. These baitfish are unable to be quarantined due to the "buy in bulk" nature, but I am hoping that good feeding and colder water temps currently with high oxygen will help combat any diseases they may have. Haven't seen ich and they all appear to be relatively healthy and are readily feeding. They are not bought from the lfs, but hatcheries, so I am hoping they are better taken care of, seemingly they are so far. These baitfish will likely be the main diet for these juvenile bass until they are wiped out in a couple months. Once the bass hit 4-5" I will be introducing a large amount of juvenile bluegill to become the backbone of the live food for these bass. The hope is for the bluegill and other species to reproduce and create a natural system of forage and predators supplemented by pellet feeding and foods like tilapia fillets, shrimp, maybe market purchased items like squid, and freshly caught striped bass from the lake cut into cut bait. I also will add crawfish to the pond once the bass get large enough to regularly consume them (12").
I will have 5 bass that I start with which I will cull down to ideally 2 females that make a run for the world record. The goal is not just weight, but also length. I want my fish to not be morbidly obese to take the record, but rather something with an enormous frame. I have seen reports of bass from Florida over the 30 inch mark, and stories of people seeing fish that are above 35 inches long. That is the fish I want. I want to push the Florida bass to the extreme limit for the species and find out just how big they truly can get.
In order to do this, I have to race to get my fish to the 18 inch mark as fast as possible to set up the runway for the fish to achieve 36 inches over the course of its life. The goal will be to do this in 1 calendar year which is pretty much faster than what anyone has done with bass previously. After 18 inches things slow down considerably, so getting there sooner and having high growth potential from the genes at a young age to keep pushing is my idea. Private pond owners can get fish to 18-20 inches in 18 months with large acreage ponds, but I need exceptional if I want to grow a record, and I think I can do it because I have a hyper-controlled environment with hand feeding in play. Bass grow fastest in their first few years of life as with any fish, so maximizing that time with healthy food and consistent growth is how I think I can shatter the world record and have a fish no one has even dreamed of.
Any tips or concerns that others might have would be well-appreciated. This is my thought process on things, and would love input from others. Concerns I have for the start is dealing with thiaminase from fatheads and golden shiners, but hopeful that gut loading will help, and knowing it's not a long term diet either. Also considering the bass are pellet-trained and should take high quality pellets that I have (Northfin JumboFish and Northfin Carnivore), I hope that is not an issue. Other issue might be disease from feeders, and that one I don't know how to address because I find it hard to treat a 5-7000 gallon system with the inability to do regular water changes.
I'll post pictures of the fish and pond this Friday when the fish come in.
Currently the pond houses a forest of anacharis, water lilies, driftwood, boulders, rock, gravel, pickerel bog plants, a wetland filtration system, a large mechanical/biological filter, UV clarifier, waterfalls and a huge aerator. The pond maintains temperature through the winter above 50 degrees, and ranges between 75-84 degrees in the summer, consistently around 78-80. I have an extended growing season for my fish because of these mild temps, often with warm autumn and winter temps extending the growing season past 9 months annually.
The pond has plenty of aquatic insects that lay eggs and other invertebrates. I have stocked it with scuds as well and will be putting more in this week as a cleanup crew and live forage for young fish. To start my bass off, they will have several thousand fathead minnows and golden shiners as their starter forage. These baitfish I am gutloading daily with omega one freshwater flakes to ideally ensure they are stronger against parasites and disease, while also balancing their profile out to combat thiaminase. These baitfish are unable to be quarantined due to the "buy in bulk" nature, but I am hoping that good feeding and colder water temps currently with high oxygen will help combat any diseases they may have. Haven't seen ich and they all appear to be relatively healthy and are readily feeding. They are not bought from the lfs, but hatcheries, so I am hoping they are better taken care of, seemingly they are so far. These baitfish will likely be the main diet for these juvenile bass until they are wiped out in a couple months. Once the bass hit 4-5" I will be introducing a large amount of juvenile bluegill to become the backbone of the live food for these bass. The hope is for the bluegill and other species to reproduce and create a natural system of forage and predators supplemented by pellet feeding and foods like tilapia fillets, shrimp, maybe market purchased items like squid, and freshly caught striped bass from the lake cut into cut bait. I also will add crawfish to the pond once the bass get large enough to regularly consume them (12").
I will have 5 bass that I start with which I will cull down to ideally 2 females that make a run for the world record. The goal is not just weight, but also length. I want my fish to not be morbidly obese to take the record, but rather something with an enormous frame. I have seen reports of bass from Florida over the 30 inch mark, and stories of people seeing fish that are above 35 inches long. That is the fish I want. I want to push the Florida bass to the extreme limit for the species and find out just how big they truly can get.
In order to do this, I have to race to get my fish to the 18 inch mark as fast as possible to set up the runway for the fish to achieve 36 inches over the course of its life. The goal will be to do this in 1 calendar year which is pretty much faster than what anyone has done with bass previously. After 18 inches things slow down considerably, so getting there sooner and having high growth potential from the genes at a young age to keep pushing is my idea. Private pond owners can get fish to 18-20 inches in 18 months with large acreage ponds, but I need exceptional if I want to grow a record, and I think I can do it because I have a hyper-controlled environment with hand feeding in play. Bass grow fastest in their first few years of life as with any fish, so maximizing that time with healthy food and consistent growth is how I think I can shatter the world record and have a fish no one has even dreamed of.
Any tips or concerns that others might have would be well-appreciated. This is my thought process on things, and would love input from others. Concerns I have for the start is dealing with thiaminase from fatheads and golden shiners, but hopeful that gut loading will help, and knowing it's not a long term diet either. Also considering the bass are pellet-trained and should take high quality pellets that I have (Northfin JumboFish and Northfin Carnivore), I hope that is not an issue. Other issue might be disease from feeders, and that one I don't know how to address because I find it hard to treat a 5-7000 gallon system with the inability to do regular water changes.
I'll post pictures of the fish and pond this Friday when the fish come in.
