ML, do you think the protien source really matters as far as 'catchability' goes? Okay, we've all caught bass and seen another forage fish with the tail sticking out of its stomach. Certainly not hungry but well fed, active and aggressive. That would support Gregs hypothesis. And, I'll bet he keeps careful documentation or loses his job. It doesn't stand to reason that his customers would accept a bunch of happy, full bellied, fish that couldn't be caught.
You, on the other hand are "feeding" your bass tilapia. I expect they will gorge themselves on your alternative offering. With the prolific breeding habits of tilapia, your bass will always be sated. If you catch them, it will support both of you guys outlooks. Both of you are furnishing/feeding the forage which turns into protien for the bass.
I keep thinking of the recent small bass I caught from a bass heavy pond and added to mine. Of necessity, they never passed up an opportunity to feed and still don't in my pond. They have been conditioned to eat anytime the opportunity presented itself. Maybe all bass are until they become hook shy or are genetically disposed not to bite lures. I'll bet that I could add a slew of BG's to that pond and reduce the catch rate.
I envy you the opportunity to conduct your experiment. You average 60 inches of rain per year. I average 22 and its not a sure thing. If I added tilapia, I could probably expect the same DO crash caused by fertilization.
One interesting observation. I have less than 20 catfish left in my water. When I toss feed, the bluegill come first and then the catfish. I believe the cats come to the sound of feeding BG, not to the sound of the feed hitting the water. I need to toss out feed at night when my BG generally don't feed to see just what rings the cats dinner bell.
I would like to know the pond sizes of Gregs customers to compare apples to apples. I think catchability might be more pond size or environmentally dependent than anything else.
