Tracy -
I am a believer in that you can grow XL LMB cheaply. Bluegill and shiners are cheap (at least around here). And bluegill are the rodents of the water world as far as I'm concerned - they live to breed, breed again, and breed some more. So if you establish a crapton of bluegills for your LMB that is an excellent source for growth. I don't know about shiner breeding, I only know how affordable they are to purchase, acclimate, and set free to be munched upon by the LMB.
The pond that I referred to earlier those LMBs were fed shiners. Morning, noon and evening. Shiners came out the pipe from the bait shop to the pond. The LMBs knew that sound of the water coming through the pipe and they would make a beeline right for that. And then the water would boil as the bass just gulped them down as they floated on the surface. You couldn't keep your lines baited fast enough. Three rods all with dead shiners on them and the lines tight going out with 5 lb and up bass. My personal best of almost 9 lbs was caught on a dead shiner I slapped on a hook and dropped 3 feet from shore.
But here is something to consider - if your forage base is such that the LMBs are hogs, the catch-ability ratio may be low(er). If the bass can eat that forage anytime they want, what is their incentive to hit anything else? The hog pen I have referenced - those bass rarely hit anything other than a live or dead shiner. I would toss in lure after lure into the boil and nothing. I could snag a bass but not hook one. But put a shiner on and bam within seconds there's a bass.
So that may be something to consider?
