I have 25 HSB in my one acre pond now. Although I've never caught one, 10 were in the 6-8" range when stocked in Oct of 2015. I think I've seen them swimming in open water, just below the surface. I'll look into finding male LMB. I have sunken cedars and plastic pipe trees (also sunken) for cover. Very little weed cover along the banks. Hopefully LMB would still do well. I'll do research on identifying male LMB..
Thx!

9 yr old pond, 1 ac, 15' deep.
RES, YP, GS, FHM (no longer), HBG (going away), SMB, and HSB (only one seen in 5 yrs) Restocked HSB (2020) Have seen one of these.
I think that's about all I should put in my little pond.
Otter attack in 2023