Dan141 some of those questions have been answered in some locations. Its not just that Fla LMB died in some locations but that even where they survived in northern waters they grew very poorly. They downgraded the genetics rather than improved them.

IMO in your location you would do much better to concentrate on water quality , forage and feeding , population control (balance and genetic enhancement by selective harvest) than on Fla/F1 genetics.

I believe Bob has some feed trained F1s in NY that have done well but I could be wrong about that.

In Calif studies one of the major reasons Flas did well is their longer life span compared to northern LMB from Calif. The big growth differences came as the fish aged and continued to live and grow after the Nort. died. I contrast this long life span vs. local fish. Northern fish in general live longer and grow slower than fish from the south. However I am not sure if Fla or F1s , if they could survive , would have a longer lifespan up north than local northern LMB. The point - one major advantage of Fla genes might not exist in northern waters.

From another recent thread -- One thing to remember about genetics is new genes (change) in a natural setting often produces negative results and nature cures it by non-viability (extinction/death). Other times the change works and a species becomes better adapted. The point is adding new blood (new genes) is not necessarily a good thing -- It all depends.