Do HSB prefer open water yes... But they can adapt to much smaller bodies of water. I think George has grown some HSB to over 6 pounds in his 1/4 acre pond in Texas heat. Being a little further north with a cooler climate, I suspect they may do even better.
A lot can be done with small ponds when you manage them heavily(feeding program, aeration) and you utilize non reproducing or very limited reproducing fish. Also utilizing pellet trained fish is a huge help in smaller ponds. You can pack for more biomass under heavy management. That means more fish in simple terms.
