What has been written, particularly by jpsdad and ewest, about stocking some adult BG in a pond with LMB, goes right along with what I have experienced this year.
My pond did not have a robust BG population before June of this year. The GSF, YP, a few BCP were not enough to produce chunky bass. For 3 years I hammered down the bass population until I could only see 2 fish larger than 12". There were plenty of smaller bass; some looked well fed, others not so much.
In June we stocked 25 7" to 8" BG in breeding condition. Some males built nests the day after they were released. Weeks later groups of small BG were visible in the shallows. After these fry showed up, the bellies of the 5" to 10" bass started appearing fuller. Some BG YOY had reached 4" by the time the water cooled to the point where they no longer were coming to feed.
I am excited to see what the Spring brings. Had I stocked fingerling BG in moderate numbers rather than the nominal dozen pairs, I don't believe I'd be nearly as far along towards having the strong food chain as I now do.
