01-30-2014, 09:42 PM
tangled -- pointer:
you are both right. Big fish obviously eat more carp. But you guys are only looking short-term. Think long term for a few minutes.
You have a big fish. He's eating lots of carp. At the same time, lots, and lots, and lots of other smaller pike are starving. Not only are they starving, but they are also reproducing. And reproducing. And reproducing.
So, the catch here is this: what happens when that big fish -- the one we protected that was eating lots of carp -- what happens when he dies of old age? He gets replaced. By what? a bunch of smaller fish!! And, guess what? Because there are so many smaller fish they "stunt" -- they don't get to be trophy's any longer.
Carp as a forage species are poor. Smaller pike do not utilize them very well because small carp are only available for a short period of time. Eventually those big fish die, and you end up with a lake full of small fish.
but, you guys just go ahead and keep preaching "save the big ones". You're doing more harm than good, whether you know it or not.
Always remember (aside from perch being bait) that you need to concentrate on that zone of maximum growth rate -- I think tangled mentioned slow growth and length of time to grow a big fish. They only grow slow when there are too many of them!! If your fish population is in that special zone of maximum growth rate THEY GROW FAST!! This is what you want! Fast growth = big fish! High populations = slow growth = small fish. Reduce your population size and you will have big fish!
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you are both right. Big fish obviously eat more carp. But you guys are only looking short-term. Think long term for a few minutes.
You have a big fish. He's eating lots of carp. At the same time, lots, and lots, and lots of other smaller pike are starving. Not only are they starving, but they are also reproducing. And reproducing. And reproducing.
So, the catch here is this: what happens when that big fish -- the one we protected that was eating lots of carp -- what happens when he dies of old age? He gets replaced. By what? a bunch of smaller fish!! And, guess what? Because there are so many smaller fish they "stunt" -- they don't get to be trophy's any longer.
Carp as a forage species are poor. Smaller pike do not utilize them very well because small carp are only available for a short period of time. Eventually those big fish die, and you end up with a lake full of small fish.
but, you guys just go ahead and keep preaching "save the big ones". You're doing more harm than good, whether you know it or not.
Always remember (aside from perch being bait) that you need to concentrate on that zone of maximum growth rate -- I think tangled mentioned slow growth and length of time to grow a big fish. They only grow slow when there are too many of them!! If your fish population is in that special zone of maximum growth rate THEY GROW FAST!! This is what you want! Fast growth = big fish! High populations = slow growth = small fish. Reduce your population size and you will have big fish!
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