Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Big CNBG: Expensive but worth it?

Last fall I lost almost all my large CNBG to a fungus infection. Cause unknown, but I strongly suspect they were in shallow spawning when an extreme (for October) cold front hit. Didn't kill them immediately, but the stress made them vulnerable.

Note that smaller CNBG were fine, as were large RES and the LMB. None of these were on the beds, of course.

So now my CNBG top out around 7 inches, whereas last fall I had many in the 8 to 9 inch range. Smaller CNBG are going great, huge numbers and recruitment appears excellent. But unlike last year, 4 and 5 inchers are on the beds.

My question is this: Should I consider stocking big CNBG to make up for the loss? Expensive proposition, $15 lb for a minimum 100 lbs is one quote I've seen. Or would it be smarter to just keep rocking along with moderate feeding and let the CNBG grow larger naturally?

My BOW has good numbers of 2 to 4 lb LMB, mostly aggressive Northern strain. Small LMB are there, but far less than last year when they dominated the predator scene.