BJNick and those interested in this thread. I would like to put some of those people that work for fish farms in perspective of their fishery knowledge.
One of my clients went to a nearby Home & Garden show in Indiana last weekend. My client who has a 1/2 ac pond and a GSF problem with YP stopped and talked to someone at the Jones 'booth'. Maybe the someone was a "biologist"?. My client explained his fish problem and my client told the guy I (BCody) arranged to get and stock one 14" SMB into the pond to hopefully help reduce numbers of GSF. Our plan is to if needed stock 1 LMB and then gradually add HSB as we monitor numbers of GSF and YP over the next few years. I have a 0.1ac test pond with a shore line containing large rock. This pond had lots of invader GSF with my perch as the test fish. I added some SMB, and did regular trapping and removal of GSF as I fed them to the SMB and after a year this has significantly reduced the GSF. Coincidence? Maybe. Note for later - the SMB stockers reproduced in 2nd yr as 2023 when I saw a few new SMB fingerlings.

Background: at this point in time my client and I do not want same sex predators that are reproducing in his pond to over eat the YP offspring, yet hopefully just gradually reduce numbers of GSF and YP. Note the pond has 8 pellet raised walleye in it with a good reproducing minnow population inhabiting the pond containing a moderate amount of hybrid water lilies and some red tipped eelgrass.

Back to Home & Garden Show and Jones representative. Jones rep said to put in more smallmouth bass from them because they would not reproduce.

Every pond where I have stocked SMB they have reproduced each year. I even had SMB reproduce in my own clay bottom pond as my first stocking experience back in 1991 with SMB -YP- FHM, GSH, BNM management. I pellet trained my own SMB who then grew to 5 lbs in this 0.3ac test pond. It is pretty difficult to stop SMB from reproducing in a pond even a small 1/4ac pond that has good habitat. Dr. Willis fish professor at SDSU regularly noted that SMB will often over populate in a pond.

Story take away - be careful to not believe everything that a fish farm worker tells you. IMO get a second or third opinion before going to the "bank" with your new pond management information.