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.
I was thinking rather than putting various sizes in, stock all of the prey at the same length proportion but at the same total stocking weight. One could then measure how many they consumed and how much they gained after a specified time period.
There are other ways to determine optimum. For example, don't fish eat a distribution of sizes that optimizes the energy gained/energy expended? Wouldn't knowledge of the realized consumption of prey tell us this? So we have acquired substantial evidence along the line of realized consumption. Just saying some times it is better to open a tin can with a can opener than with say a pocket knife. We can use other ways to determine this optimum.
Part of the reason I am posing the question is to get feedback on impressions and pre-existing bias. It may be helpful, for any brave enough to answer the question of optimum proportionate length and daily consumption number to also explain why they feel this to be the case. If enough participate in the poll, I will ultimately share how we can determine if the impressions can be actuated in the real world. Basically to predict the growth of a predator to see if the impression is reasonable. Ultimately testing various scenarios. Finally I will tie known realized consumption distributions to the same tests to demonstrate that predators really do feed optimally and what relative sizes are optimum and what daily numbers of this size lead to maximum rates of known realized growth (for LMB 2 lbs growth annually). In the end, all can judge whether this is reasonable or not and absorb or reject it for themselves.
Why would anyone care? For some it might have management decision implications. For example, for a forage supplement intended to support the trophy LMB in a pond, how many, how often, and what size would yield the best growth of these fish? Anyways, I'll share if at least 8 take a stab with their own best guess based on the impressions they have.
