Jeff, that's a pretty bass. At least you didn't bend it. I also like your multi-species idea.
Thanks davatsa, and no I did not bend it. I did however plunge my fingers into it's gills and have been properly reprimanded for that.
It sounds similar to what Norm Kopecky did, except I believe his method was put & take with almost exclusively predator species. I'd love to have a pond dedicated to growing trophy fish of choice, plus another pond with a hodgepodge of all different species and sizes of fish. If I could only have one, I'd rather have better catch rates with multiple species and try for an occassional trophy fish as a bonus.
I'm going to have to look through my Pond Boss magazine collection and find the article. I didn't realize that he used exclusively predator species - OOPS!