I hear you CJ but have a little different twist.

When one watches small BG (1-2 inches) near shore one would think that nothing else hangs out with them and that is right. However just out of sight are small LMB (6 in +) waiting to eat them. In a flash one will dart in and there is one less small BG. The same goes for small LMB and intermediate BG (3-4 in.) and large LMB. They are in a little deeper water and nearby large LMB wait to eat them. In many ponds the only predator to small LMB is big LMB. The only time they hang out together for any length of time is when the small LMB resides in the stomach of the big LMB. Do keep this in perspective though. You do see 12 in and 20 in LMB spawn together with no problem. You can see 12 in and 16 in LMB together because the 16 can't eat the 12 and they both know this. The ability of fish to size up gape size and ability from both the predator and prey perspective is amazing – they both just know. That is why you see 8 in BG swimming with 12 in LMB – no threat there.