nehunter,
I find your idea rather intriguing. An an interesting read is this report on fish production by Swingle etal.
http://www.nativefishlab.net/library/textpdf/15116.pdfOne section deals with conversion efficiency of LMB which was researched by Prather. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1577/1548-8659%281950%2980%5B154%3AEOFCBY%5D2.0.CO%3B2
Conversion was determined from wet weight conversion of baitfish to LMB weight. It varies a lot but initially a mean conversion rate of ~7.5 lbs baitfish per 1 lb LMB gain was determined. Of interest, Prather found that selection could significantly reduce both the mean and variation but found that ~ 4 lbs per lb gain was a practical limit of efficiency. He worked with LMB < 6 ounce (less than 9.2"). I've not read Prather's paper and so don't know what role if any secondary inputs of fertility contributed. Specifically, did foods other than those fish weighed and fed contribute to gain? The fish were individually kept in circular pools and so I infer that secondary sources of food were quite limited or nonexistent.
At first blush 4 lbs of feed to 1 lb of gain may not seem all that extraordinary. But if one considers the dry weight of the bait fish the food conversion begins to take on a more remarkable efficiency. Not sure what the dry weights would be but one study on the dry weight relationship of nile tilapia found dry weights of ~25% of wet weight. So the conversion approaches 1 lb dry weight food per 1 lb wet weight gain. Not shabby at all IMHO.
Particularly for improving weights of panfish ground fish could be beneficial. It would ensure panfish would get a fair share as well as remove competition and open carrying capacity that is bound in the fish that are fed back to the pond. It seems a brilliant idea to me nehunter.
