I have to agree with Todd on this one. Small pond owners (less than an acre) should be careful about stocking both sex LMB for the fear of high maintenance with a 5 year plan of little to no forage base (based on the no maintenance lack of intoducing a new food supply). The larger the LMB is the larger their selection of prey. Kinda like a Krystal burger versus a double whopper it all depends on the size of the predator. Then again it all boils down to customer goals.
Personally I like to see my GG's stocked with HSB and Gambusia in smaller ponds (as ML's experiment shows). Only time will tell on that one. I have had too many positive results from customers who wanted both large panfish AND a hard fighting bass in their smaller water holes (thus my strategy mentioned above). Now if the goal is for trophy LMB I suggest a larger pond with a smaller stock of F-1 LMB to get the job done (and NO hybrid bream). So many goals out there with so many results and pleasures. Most important though is to know the customer's needs/wants/goals from A-Z, and then do your best as a professional to guide him/her toward that objective.
Off to bed now (I have had to correct my spelling WAY to much tonight, and I probably still missed a few).
Deb
