While statistically, you are correct, the reality is that bass which live longer have much greater odds of survival. They move from eaten to eater. A six inch bass can eat smaller bass, but can be eaten by a 12 inch bass. But, a 12 inch bass can eat many sizes of bluegill and bass six inches and smaller, but will be eaten by a four pound or larger bass. About the only thing that might eat a four pound bass in a bass lake is Overton's mega-blue cat. So, in a traditional bass/bluegill population, bass survival rates dramatically increase with age. To further complicate things, hopefully more than 95% of newly hatched bass go the way of the buffalo. If more than that survive, managers ultimately deal with overcrowded bass, usually when the babies grow into the 8-14" size class. My experience trying to grow big numbers of trophy bass in a lake is that it is one of those 'says easy, does hard.' A manager basically has two jobs. Job one is to get bass to sixteen and 1/2 inches. That means growing lots of bluegill, threadfin shad, minnows, redear, tilapia...you get the food chain picture. While bass are 'racing' to 16.5", you best be preparing for the next level. Small bass have small bass habits, eating small nuggets of intermediate size bluegill, bass, and any moving morsel which fits into a young bass mouth. But, when bass hit that magic 16.5" mark, their habits quickly change. Big bass have big bass habits. They eat big, they hold tight to cover, they become solitary and defend their area. Small bass are like gang members, pillaging, chasing, bullying their way to the next meal. Growth rates scare me. Read this...you won't hear this from many people. I am as fearful of fast growing bass as I am of slow growers. Here's a story. A good friend of mine, Harrell Arm's, of Proctor, Texas, had a pond under management. He called one day, with the buttons on his vest about to pop. "We electrofished so and so's lake today, shocked up two five pound bass." The lake had just finished its second year. Harrell was proud of his management skills. Honestly, I was a bit jealous, until I thought about it. If those young bass grew so well so fast, what kind of an impact will it have on the entire population, then the entire pond over the next few years? Here's what I thought, and over the next few years, it's exactly what happened. When a few fish are giants early, that means survival rates were low, and food chain nuggets were high. A few bass had all they wanted to eat. A virtual buffet. The next spring, bass spawned like crazy, filling that pond with intermediate bass. I talked with Harrell for several years after that. He spent several days every year, shocking intermediate bass from that lake, just to keep it in balance, and give those trophy bass a fair shot to reach their potential.
Ideally, the entire bass population grows at average rates, with a few above average bass excelling. Those are the fish I want to focus. When we can manage a few bass beyond 16.5 inches, all the way to stardom, things seem to work. We grow giant bass, with some young bass standing in the wings to fill those large shoes when the time comes. Giant bass eat intermediate size bass, assisting the selective harvest process, and the landowner is happy. If we can have five pound bass in the fourth year, then sevens in the fifth, we ultimately have some double-digit monsters in the sixth. It seems to work for us, as long as the pond or lake has the right habitat, food chain, genetics and selective harvest.

Teach a man to grow fish...
He can teach to catch fish...