02-22-2013, 05:00 PM
[quote Gemcityslayer]
2) What size do you think Tigers start eating other fish? I think VERY soon, you seem to think it takes them awhile.
3) I agree that trophy fish grow fast... but you can't tell me that the 18lb tiger grew "very slowly" through a "bottleneck" for 3-4 years and THEN added all that mass... Sorry, that tiger has been eating chubs and other fish and a lot of them for almost it's entire life. I just don't think your math adds up here, if they grow slowly for 3-4 years how could they get to 20" in two years? (That seems like fairly quick growth to me, not slow..) In my humble opinion (and experience) Tigers below 20" eat a ton of chubs and other fish...they are not rainbows or cutts, completely different fish. It's not like at 20" a switch turns on and they want chubs, they'll eat chubs as soon as they can fit in their mouth. High chub numbers = big, healthy tiger trout. Without them, I don't care how fast they grow when they are younger...they are not going to reach 18lbs in 8 years without gobs and gobs of meat to eat.[/quote]
1) I think some tiger trout start preying on other fish around that 15 inch mark...but some tiger trout may never convert. T'he work done at strawberry is showing that the most of the chub predation is being done by cutts between 16-21 inches.
2) That trophy tiger trout probably grew very slowly at first, I say this because that is exactly what happens to fish at the Gorge and at Fish Lake and at Joes Valley.
Also, a tiger trout won't get to 20 inches in just a couple of summers IF they have to compete with chubs. IF they do NOT have to compete with chubs, their initial growth will be much faster. Right now, WITH chubs, tiger trout growth isn't going to be as high UNTIL they convert to a diet that consists mostly of chubs. That won't happen until they can reach about 15-16 inches in length (and some fish NEVER will convert and will remain small). At Schofield right now, I am betting it will take those tiger trout probably 2-3 summers to get that big. Again, Joes Valley is a prime example of this...
also, remember that record cutt from strawberry grew to 27 POUNDS in 7 years WITHOUT any prey species!
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2) What size do you think Tigers start eating other fish? I think VERY soon, you seem to think it takes them awhile.
3) I agree that trophy fish grow fast... but you can't tell me that the 18lb tiger grew "very slowly" through a "bottleneck" for 3-4 years and THEN added all that mass... Sorry, that tiger has been eating chubs and other fish and a lot of them for almost it's entire life. I just don't think your math adds up here, if they grow slowly for 3-4 years how could they get to 20" in two years? (That seems like fairly quick growth to me, not slow..) In my humble opinion (and experience) Tigers below 20" eat a ton of chubs and other fish...they are not rainbows or cutts, completely different fish. It's not like at 20" a switch turns on and they want chubs, they'll eat chubs as soon as they can fit in their mouth. High chub numbers = big, healthy tiger trout. Without them, I don't care how fast they grow when they are younger...they are not going to reach 18lbs in 8 years without gobs and gobs of meat to eat.[/quote]
1) I think some tiger trout start preying on other fish around that 15 inch mark...but some tiger trout may never convert. T'he work done at strawberry is showing that the most of the chub predation is being done by cutts between 16-21 inches.
2) That trophy tiger trout probably grew very slowly at first, I say this because that is exactly what happens to fish at the Gorge and at Fish Lake and at Joes Valley.
Also, a tiger trout won't get to 20 inches in just a couple of summers IF they have to compete with chubs. IF they do NOT have to compete with chubs, their initial growth will be much faster. Right now, WITH chubs, tiger trout growth isn't going to be as high UNTIL they convert to a diet that consists mostly of chubs. That won't happen until they can reach about 15-16 inches in length (and some fish NEVER will convert and will remain small). At Schofield right now, I am betting it will take those tiger trout probably 2-3 summers to get that big. Again, Joes Valley is a prime example of this...
also, remember that record cutt from strawberry grew to 27 POUNDS in 7 years WITHOUT any prey species!
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