Good info guys! The .3 to .5 lbs per ft^3 rule of thumb does seem a little small but that study mentions the benefits of crowding so it makes sense. Trained SMB are hard to find; otherwise I agree jpsdad that would be much easier to buy some that are already trained. I found a hatchery that used to sell trained SMB but it's been 4-5 years since they've done it (only have trained LMB now).

Sounds like my next step for this crazy idea is to find or build some sort of cage. 2x2x3 is relatively small... Might look around at aquariums too. That'd probably be easier to keep track if the fish are eating the pellets or not compared to trying to look down into the pond.