Wow
i wonder if people buy them and put them in there ponds prestarted fish
Actually....
According to state law, THESE are the ONLY ones you can buy and put in your pond. These are special bred bass for the market as they are fed a pelletted diet just like catfish. This is not normal for bass so they must be selectively bred and then trained to eat pellets.
While a superior fish for this one purpose, growing on pellets to market size for eating, this type bass is a very poor sporting fish that cannot grow much larger than the size you see here. In a small pond without much natural food they work well, but in a lake trying to grow trophies they are a terrible fish, but the only legal choice you have according to state law.
Fingerling bass not trained to pellets are out of compliance and a person can be arrested and fined for possessing them.
You might be surprised to to see what a big deal this truly is, as local producers may not be in compliance, and neither would out of state producer selling anything other than pellet raised bass.
The recent (as of two years ago) change in the way that state law has been interpreted caused my hatchery to quit raising and selling bass fingerlings altogether. There is no way I can be in compliance and still provide the superior genetics and health that my fish had become known for. I can't provide the quality my customers expect so I don't do it at all anymore.
Ostensibly to "tell wild caught from farmed" fish, these rules were not interpreted so strictly in the past. Even though I nor any other farmer/breeder wants any of the virus ridden, poorly bred "wild bass," available from state waters.
So, you might be surprised how many of these "bred and farmed for market," bass are entering our private (and ultimately public) waters further diluting the genetics so many have worked so hard at improving. Go figure, typical giverment "cut off your nose to spite your face, behavior.
