RBS are obviously not mostly male like HBG are. However, they are even less prolific than GSF and their success is even more limited in ponds that do not have clean sand or gravel bottoms. They can nest in muck/mud but their success rates are lower.
You can also look into sourcing the golden color morph of RBS which would make them even more susceptible to predation. Contact Greg Grimes, he can put you on a source of them if Nate cannot. And yes, RBS will readily take to pellets. I was able to get wild caught RBS on pellets without issue. I had a few male BG that were pellet trained and the RBS learned from them. The ones from the hatchery will come pellet trained.
