I think the faster growing 2005 YOY LMB in Theo’s pond did indeed have more and better sizes of forage than the original stocked fingerling LMB who are now adults. Abundance of small forage could have been enhanced for the first spawn due to the original stocking of LMB (parents) which were currently larger and selectively preying larger sizes of forage items and essentially ignoring the smallest prey. This behavior helped cause higher densites of smaller prey fish.
Depending on survival, subsequent LMB spawns will have competition from other year classes and future spawns will likely grow at a slower rate. As the density of small bass (less than 13”) increases they will likey be forced to feed on the less than desirable smaller fish, including small bass, due to lack of optimum sized prey. This is a common occurrence in ponds with too many bass. As the density of small bass increases it puts a very high amount of predatory pressure on the forage base. In many instances the forage base, especially low diversity forage bases, cannot maintain its abundance under heavy predtion pressure. Heavy thinning of each year class of young bass helps overall growth of younger bass.
