Spend some time reading through the threads in this link of extensive past topics about growing LMB.
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=255372#Post255372Also learn about a lot about carrying capacity, what it is, what affects it, what makes it work or not work, what limits it, and how to determine or estimate it:
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=92440#Post92440Some ponds will have a natural carrying capacity for 5 pounds of bass per acre (very clear water) whereas some will have capacity for 50 lbs of bass per acre (plankton rich water). Florida has a lot of clear water ponds that have low productivity.
As mentioned a few big bass in a 1 ac pond will quickly become hook smart. Just because they are present doesn�t mean you can readily catch them. Each time they are caught they become harder to catch next time (hook smart, hook shy). They are NOT fond of having their jaw jerked to please anglers. There is a long thread in the link above about hook smart fish and dealing with hook smart bass.
The concept of only being able to grow a specific number of pounds of (bass) predators per acre is based on the fertility of the water and the amount of natural foods it can produce in each acre. Shallow water actually produces more fish foods per acre than deep water. Thus the amount of food present per acre determines how many pounds of predator will be raised. Keep in mind that as the predator poundage (growth), not necessarily the numbers, increases it takes more food to feed them. As mentioned, reproducing bass will always be increasing the numbers and poundage of predator, thus the concept of stocking only female bass.
IMO to compensate for increasing bass poundage beyond the natural carrying capacity of the pond one can add forage food to allow for a higher carrying capacity similar to the zoo setting or concept; more predators per acre. For this concept to be successful for a trophy bass fishery where the bass are actually growing and maintaining plump body condition, one would need to annually add very close to 15 to 20 lbs of larger forage fish (6�-10�) for each additional large bass that is present beyond the natural carrying capacity of the pond. Thus 10 additional large bass per acre will require 150 to 200 pounds a fish added to the system over the course of each year to keep these trophy fish growing. You can�t maintain large predator fish that will grow by feeding them minnow sized fish.
As noted below by Cecil one can increase the carrying capacity by turning the fishery into a aquaculture system (fish farming) where the fish are fed high protein fish pellets. This concept and method is also discussed in the LMB Management link above.
