Manchesterbass, I am a new pond owner so I can not speak of your pond but I can tell you of my bass fishing experience. And I have a lot of that.
Let me say that in Texas over the past 30 yr's there has been a lot of lakes built. And most of them follow with your experience. Lake Fork,(an example) most everyone has herd of. So I will tell u that in the beginning I could go there and catch 100 per day, all in the 2lb range, and catch them on everything I threw at them. And maybe catch a 5lb or better. The lake was stocked with Florida's. And a few years later I would catch fewer but bigger fish and today even fewer but now some really big ones. My point is that the bass learn what not to bite. It is a fact that bass learn not to bite. So if there has been some fishing pressure on the lake, I suspect they have learned and like you said there is a lot of natural forage for them, so that also will come into play. I would suggest u fish more plastic's like worms, lizards, craws. Or naturals, like suggested above. And I think you are headed in the right direction to add Hybred stripers. Good luck with your fishery. Maybe someone here will make better recommendations for you.
Tracy
