I have no idea as to the correct answers, but that sounds like a great experiment for you to run!
Put a single bass in a cattle tank, or a small lined pond that you built. Add a bit of ambush cover for the bass.
Measure 8 BG of various sizes and fin clip them for easier predation. Check how many, and of what size the bass eats every day.
Caveat - "caged" LMB behavior must differ from wild behavior, but I don't know by how much. Otherwise, Cabela's and the hard core aquaculture guys would have LMB in their tanks that exceed the world record!
However, the experiment might help you determine the answer to your "optimal size" question. Further, after you determined the optimal size, you could eliminate that size cohort from your tank, and experiment to see what ranges the LMB would consume when the optimal size was not available.
