channarox;2134300; said:in captivity i doubt one would get anymore than 3 feet.
Under typical conditions even that would be optimistic for a fry raised from the wild. Largest I have had was around 26 inches for a five year old fish. (I believe it is now in the Downtown Denver aquarium) This was kept in a large tank at a public aquarium. My 10 year old fish that was raised from the sac fry stage is only 19 inches...Captivity with it's associated inconsistencies definitely affects the size of these fish.
Pond culturing them could result in much larger fish but I would have to seriously question any 4 foot or above fish from such conditions. If your pond is a small lake and you have 15 years maybe.....