I definitely agree there is no particular answer as there are so many variables. Just thought you would kick out of that anecdote as it seems to confirm the biologists' suspicion that OSS are impacting BG reproduction in the 55 acre lake. This is not something I would have suspected. I can hardly imagine a 21 year old pond with 5 lbs of BG and 71 lbs of other sunfishes (with 650 lbs total crop) but it happened. As much as anything, I did want to make the point that the reference pond probably greatly influenced the statistics including the suspected association with LMB standing weights benefitting from OSS presence. I can't say for sure, but neglecting that pond they just might have come to the opposite conclusion. That pond's standing crop of LMB was many standard deviations away from the mean so an outlier that can skew statistics.

I empathize with the biologists' challenges. It's so hard to control multiple factors to meet license holder's expectations. Even if the near impossible were achieved ... I am sure some would expect more.