Tom,
These are difficult issues. I'm trying several things to get around the conditioning problem...genetics, reduced fishing pressure, no artificial feeding included.
On genetics, I'm a fan of the F1 LMB, a cross between a pure Florida and a native (nothern) LMB. It has the aggressive tendencies of the native LMB and the growth of the Floridas. If you can stock them in your climate, I would really recommend them. The way I'm getting around fishing pressure is somewhat unique...I do not accept fishing less as an option, so my only other choice was to build more ponds. By rotating among the ponds, and also having a specific pond for just fun fishing (HSB, BG, etc.) I feel I can minimize the effects of fishing pressure on the "high performance" ponds.
Artificial feeding is another consideration, althought very controversial...I should say my position on it is very controversial and as a result I've been called just about everything you can imagine in PM's. My belief is that a predator fish that has to earn its keep, that has to hunt for its dinner, rather than lay in wait at a feeder, that is not satiated, but slightly hungry...that fish will hit lures/flys much better than the same fish that is provided a handout twice a day...many disagree, perhaps most. I've seen it happen repeatedly and I'm running an experiment with all three variables in play to convince myself.
At least you have a Forum in which you can hear about alternate ideas. When I started many years ago, there was no one raising the issues of conditioning in LMB and no one that I knew of looking for solutions. Now there are many doing both.
