The current bass in the pond are Florida strain bass, stocked in 1995. Not sure if that changes your suggestion.
To be sure, I was under the impression that the pond had Northern strain with some F1s added later. This just emphasizes something I have been saying a long time. Genetics mean very little when LMB populations are too high for a pond's forage potential to support. Fast growing Florida strain LMB can certainly stunt at average weights of 1/4 to 1/2 lbs. The age-old incessant argument of heritage and environment, LOL. Florida and F1s perform similarly to Northerns under similar population density unless they are consuming at satiation (which is a bigger ration per unit body weight for Floridas and F1s).
People overstate and over expect the results achieved from genetically superior strains. You still have to balance with prey production and consumption.
As to whether introducing genetically inferior fish would produce similar results if limited to the selected population? I think it would. In essence, the genetically superior fish would benefit from their superior growth trait because the inferior fish would allow them more to eat. The LMB would have greater variation and greater extremes about the average than if they were totally composed of F1 or Floridas. The smaller fish would be even smaller than the average - whilst the larger fish would be even bigger than the average ... all the while ... the average not being much different between uniformed or mixed selections. Since you don't have Northern strain in your pond, I'll say it does change what I would probably do. I might not add the northerns and probably wouldn't.
I think I would want .20 to .5 acres for the forage pond. A larger pond has the advantage of doing double duty. If it is large enough to produce the needed recruitment of BG YOY in one cycle ... you could grow some advanced fingerling LMB over the remainder of the Summer through winter and be able to select recruits the following Spring for your main pond. Something to consider within the constraints of the topography and budget.
