Of course I'm not interested in HBG, but I think some of these principles apply to pure GSF or WM (my local big mouthed Lepomis).
Maybe the reason most people don't get large GSF is because they are usually competing with LMB. Like LMB, GSF are ambush predators so they probably need an ample supply of minnows, frogs, crawdads, etc. to grow well and bugs won't be sufficient. Maybe they don't relate as well to pellet food as well as BG because of their hunting style. That's why my idea is to make them the top predator, or at least to have a limited larger predator with no, or low recruitment. Basically I plan on managing my WM as if they were LMB.
It stands to reason that if you provide a GSF with good cover and ample forage that you should be able to get near the 2lb+ potential fairly easily. I hope so anyway.
