The article by Dave Willis posted by Shorty makes an important point. We DO NOT need a prey species for a predator! They young of the predator and the frogs, insects etc. around the lake provide enough prey.
Hopefully, Dave Willis will see this post and comment on it.
If we feed pellets, we don't need live forage at all. Look at the people raising huge male bluegill, catfish, trout or HSB on pellets. I can't think of any reason that LMB and SMB couldn't be added to this list.
If we're willing to actively manage our lakes, our options are much wider than we've even though about so far.
