When Strawberry was poisoned and replanted, the strategy to control chubs was the Bear Lake cutthroat, which were known to get big. Way over 22ā from what I remember (not an expert)
The common man, like myself naively assumed that once the cutthroatās diet changed from mostly insects to minnows and whatever else, hopefully chubs, that these fish would grow to 5lbs and beyond. This is basically what we were being told by the DWR biologists and others. I canāt quote anyone on it but that is how I remember it. A 23ā fish should not be a rare occurrence.
In my mind a 5 or 6 year old fish should be 23ā assuming it has good habitat (again, not an expert)
I would like to think that they just get too smart and educated but they are a only a fish.
Having said all this, the best laid plans and intentions never seem to work out long term for big game or fishing no matter who comes with the idea