George :

Great post !! Thanks for the prior ref. post. \:\) Most of the studies in this area ( the ones found so far) are based on the question you raised and are raised by biologists looking to improve stocking vs $ on public lakes. As a result they are looking at what size of stocker and when and how to get the best result for the $ invested. They do use larger (sub adult)advanced stockers in some of the studies . Even with larger stockers ,depending on predator size, there is still the initial massacre just not quite as bad ( like your 3-5 in. HSB exp.). It is a numbers game and the point is if we can find a way to stop or reduce the initial (1st couple of days massacre) then we will be working from a much larger base for survival for year one. It looks like in some cases 40-75 % losses occured in the first day. For those wondering there are some studies on the topic on other types of fish with the same type of questions. ewest

Happy Thanksgiving to all we are very blessed indeed !!!