It's hard to say for sure without seeing the sample results, but if you have plenty of bream of all sizes then the bream should be healthy and spawning. Young of the year bluegill are the main food for small bass in most ponds, so if the bluegill are not spawning well and frequently small bass don't grow well. Golden shiners in sufficient numbers will reduce small bass growth rates two ways - they compete directly with small bass for food, and they compete with bluegill for food, which reduces bluegill spawning. That may have had something to do with it.
However, if it was just a few small bass, they may have just been runts.
