The Optimal Open Trials are back!  The 2023 Open Trial consists of three parts: Catch per unit effort, Evaluation of three trial diets, and the ability to contribute to a fish pathogen study conducted at Auburn University. Signup has ended.

Three elements of this years open trial:

Go Fishing!

• Record your catch per unit effort using the worksheet you receive in the kit including things like when you went, how long you went, how many fish you caught, which species, how long since last feeding, etc.

• If you catch a fish that appears sick and you wish to participate in a study you will be provided with a pre-paid shipping label and a shipping cooler to send that fish to college.

University study:

We are working with Dr. Tim Bruce from Auburn University to assist in identifying bacterial pathogens present in juvenile, sub-adult, and adult largemouth bass. Although many pathogens are everywhere, it is unknown if they are all similar or if regions have slightly different strains. Understanding strain differences that might occur in geographic areas will help to create stronger and more focused treatments. This collection of fish from waters throughout the U.S. will help build the database required to advance this field.

Trial Diets:

Try out three unique diets at your pond and let us know what you think. We will send three bags of feed with a questionnaire to record your opinions on the feed. 5% of the formulation will differ between the diets. They will include some novel products just hitting the marketplace. Together we will learn if the fish show any preference and if the feeds have any impact of fishing aggression.