We all know that, but how slow…?

I spend time between Minnesota, Florida and South Carolina. While in Florida last winter, we had the local fisheries expert talk to our group about largemouth bass, stocking, weeds, etc. He mentioned that largemouth there can get to 5 pounds in as little as 5-7 years. Also, this new strain of Florida largemouth called Titans may grow even faster...

Fast forward to this summer, and I'm fishing in Northern Minnesota on an old favorite lake near Longville, MN. I had caught a tagged fish 8 years earlier on this lake - and lo and behold, I catch another one this time around. I measured the fish at 16 7/8 inches and took a picture of the tag and fish, and sent into the DNR. Here is what they came back with:

"The tagged Largemouth Bass you caught was initially tagged in 2015 as part of a population estimate. At the time of tagging the fish measured 10.7 inches long. This is the first angler reported capture of this fish."

This means that the fish was likely "born" in 2012 and was now 14 years old and not even quite 17 inches in length. It grew a total of 6 inches in the last 11 years where a Florida largemouth strain may have grown to 10 pounds during that time and passed away from old age!

The tagged fish I caught 8 years ago measured 19.25 inches. The DNR at that time responded to me then by saying the fish was actually 19 years old and had been caught and recorded 2 other times. That’s about an inch a year over almost 2 decades.

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This years catch:

8 years ago:

This is a nearly 2 decade old Minnesota largemouth... pictured with a 6 decade old man that peaked at 5'10" Medium XFast, and is now 5'9" Moderate-Slow.. 😝

Thanks. That has solved the mystery of why I'm not catching bass this year. I started fishing for Florida strain largemouth in a lake near me 7 years ago. I realize now they have all grown up and died.

The large bass (4lb and up) that I catch in northern NY are almost always scarred, beat up, gnarly and weathered. Makes sense seeing as how they’re upwards of 20 years old.

17 hours ago, FryDog62 said:

This is a nearly 2 decade old Minnesota largemouth... pictured with a 6 decade old man that peaked at 5'10" Medium XFast, and is now 5'9" Moderate-Slow.. 😝

Funny!

15 hours ago, king fisher said:

Thanks. That has solved the mystery of why I'm not catching bass this year. I started fishing for Florida strain largemouth in a lake near me 7 years ago. I realize now they have all grown up and died.

Also funny!

15 hours ago, Jar11591 said:

The large bass (4lb and up) that I catch in northern NY are almost always scarred, beat up, gnarly and weathered.

I catch old, beat-up bass too, but I also catch four, five, and six-pounders that look daisy fresh. It mystifies me.

Thanks, @FryDog62, for this thread. Over the years, I've started a couple threads about how slowly northern bass grow, which is why I keep them out of the water as briefly as possible.

Great info on the growth with real world data @FryDog62 .

When I was at the Bassmaster Elite AOY events at Mille Lacs a decade ago, there was a DNR Biologist on site to answer questions. I asked him how long it took a smallmouth there to reach trophy size (5 pounds/20 inches) and he said about 10 years, give or take.

Mille Lacs is probably more fertile and has a better forage base than typical largemouth lakes, but that was a real eye opening stat. Removing just one mature female takes up to 10 years to replace.

That's a really awesome catch (both of them!). I never would have guessed that slow. I mean, MN has ice on the water for 6 months of the year so its understandable but holy cow.

My dad's 'home lake' for largemouth was drained for a couple years for dam repairs. Nothing left. It was catch and keep while it was drained down and then it was basically dry. When they refilled it the PA fish comission stocked it with fingerling bass and fingerling golden shiners. The following year they added more goldens and bass, and also bluegill and crappie. They continued stocking for one more year and also that third year they added shiners. By year four there were a LOT of 4-5# bass. I had an email exchange with the regional biologist about it and he said that newly filled lakes go through a boom period and while these rates are really high it isn't unheard of. That's 1# per year! It has since stabilized and there are still a bunch of 4-5# fish and the occasional 5-5.5# fish now, but that prior growth rate would say that there are some 6+ in there and I would be there are.

31 minutes ago, casts_by_fly said:

MN has ice on the water for 6 months of the year

Perhaps in far northern MN. Most of the state is not covered in ice for half the year. That's nothing but a rumor.

Generally speaking, ice develops from north to south around Thanksgiving and in recent memory, it's all been gone in the southern half of the state by the first week of April. So more like 4 months.

I am in year three of bass/boat fishing here in MN (but a peer in age with @FryDog62 ) - and I see all of these long/heavy bass in pictures (here and on social media) and think - What am I doing wrong ? - I have caught a 19.5inch LMB and a 19.25inch SMB (My PB's so far) but have not been able to land the coveted 20 inch/5lb trophy bass yet

Your post and info. gives me good info. and perspective - that the larger fish I have landed were close to 2 decades old - the biggest small mouth I have landed had many battle scars and is the hardest fighting fish I have landed, that fighting spirit has served that bass well for almost 2 decades !

I might have to travel a bit (to different lakes here in MN or to a southern state) to find the trophy fish I am seeking - thank you for the info/perspective/humor !

@WaskaCrank12 you may want to look at fishing over is Wisconsin. The Mississippi River and Mille Lac have only produced up to 19 inches for me too.

Cornell did a study on Oneida lake bass to see how accurate a no kill method of aging was compared to a method requiring them to be killed. The data from that study was used to determine that bass in Oneida lake in New York take about 10 years to reach 18 inches.