09-30-2010, 04:54 PM
Moderators: Please understand that this is not a personal attack at Cliff. This statement could have been made by anyone, and I would still have picked it out and commented on it. I love Cliff, and I'm not trying to hurt his feelings by explaining this concept. Thank you for leaving this post unedited.
[quote bassrods]
But give the fish on the same lake time they will grow to big fish like other lakes...
[/quote]
A funny concept that many anglers fail to realize is that fish are not mammals. Believe it or not.
A couple terms:
[#0000bf]Determinate growth -- growth having exact limits; predetermined growth. [/#0000bf]
This is how mammals grow. Think about an elephant. When an elephant is born we know that the elephant, given time, is going to grow and get big. As the animal get's older, it grows larger. At maturity, this animal will actually get to it's "limit" or it's "pre-determined" size, and stop growing larger.
[#0000bf]
Indeterminate growth -- not precisely determined, or established; not fixed or known in advance. [/#0000bf]
This is how fish grow. You can have two big fish (with big fish genes) mate, but the offspring do not necessarily grow big even with those big genes. The offspring may spend their entire life as a small fish. As time goes on, fish do not always grow larger. They might, but not necessarily. conversely, fish can also "grow" smaller -- yep, that's right, smaller. Sometimes fish actually get smaller as time goes on. Sometimes fish get bigger, then smaller, then bigger, then smaller. Fish are very "plastic", and can grow (either larger or smaller) to match their habitat as that environment changes. Size is subject to radical alteration as environmental conditions change.
So, when anglers (not just Cliff) think that if we allow fish to stay in the lakes longer so that they can grow bigger -- their thinking is flawed. With fish, time does not always equate to larger sizes. When you catch a 13" smallmouth bass, that fish isn't necessarily going to grow larger just because you release it. That fish very well could be an old fish that just never did grow bigger. That happens. Not all fish grow big -- and it isn't due to age.
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[quote bassrods]
But give the fish on the same lake time they will grow to big fish like other lakes...
[/quote]
A funny concept that many anglers fail to realize is that fish are not mammals. Believe it or not.
A couple terms:
[#0000bf]Determinate growth -- growth having exact limits; predetermined growth. [/#0000bf]
This is how mammals grow. Think about an elephant. When an elephant is born we know that the elephant, given time, is going to grow and get big. As the animal get's older, it grows larger. At maturity, this animal will actually get to it's "limit" or it's "pre-determined" size, and stop growing larger.
[#0000bf]
Indeterminate growth -- not precisely determined, or established; not fixed or known in advance. [/#0000bf]
This is how fish grow. You can have two big fish (with big fish genes) mate, but the offspring do not necessarily grow big even with those big genes. The offspring may spend their entire life as a small fish. As time goes on, fish do not always grow larger. They might, but not necessarily. conversely, fish can also "grow" smaller -- yep, that's right, smaller. Sometimes fish actually get smaller as time goes on. Sometimes fish get bigger, then smaller, then bigger, then smaller. Fish are very "plastic", and can grow (either larger or smaller) to match their habitat as that environment changes. Size is subject to radical alteration as environmental conditions change.
So, when anglers (not just Cliff) think that if we allow fish to stay in the lakes longer so that they can grow bigger -- their thinking is flawed. With fish, time does not always equate to larger sizes. When you catch a 13" smallmouth bass, that fish isn't necessarily going to grow larger just because you release it. That fish very well could be an old fish that just never did grow bigger. That happens. Not all fish grow big -- and it isn't due to age.
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