If your friend grows 7 lb bass, he might know the secret formula. I'd ask him his stocking ratios, and how many fish he removes per year vs how many new fish he is putting back in. Then if you do half that much you might be on to the secret recipe.
He might be able to donate some pickerel as well.
I don't think a pond half the size always (or is limited somehow) to grow fish only exactly half the size. Big bass can thrive in small ponds. The formula has more to do with ratio of predator fish to forage fish and also the competition between similar sized predators in the same pond.
One of the best quotes I read on this forum is that if you don't have enough FHM or other forage fish so that you can walk on the water without sinking..... then you aren't ready to put bigger fish in yet.
That might take a summer/fall to achieve that in a 1/2 acre pond and then you can keep reading/learning and then do some more stocking next spring?
