Rod, to be honest, I'm not sure. One thing that I think skews CNBG size numbers is the amount of vegetative cover in my pond. I watch the banks and feedings closely in the spring, and the mid-range 5-7" CNBG are rare. Those that don't get eaten, and grow past that size, survive. The height of the CNBG can outweigh the gape of the LMB, and I've seen dozens swim around with the CNBG sideways in their mouth. Eventually they release them after trying to swallow them head first. Having said all of that, there's a lot of fun with fishing for the larger CNBG with ultralight rods.
Here at least, the smaller CNBG are certainly more fusiform and eatable than the adults.
| 
