Dave, I am definitely not a pro, not yet....
I have had a lot of experience with fish even as a young kid and now my actually occupation.
Anyways, it kills me to watch people stock a pond just because they think they need fish in it.
I am a firm believer in harvest the fish or don't stock. The bass problem is quite common, but is usually coupled with the fact that cats are present in the pond too. In a one acre pond one could harvest as many as 20#s of bass and 60-80 #s of BG. To me that is a lot of fish!
So I guess if you are north and experience a winter then you are better off understocking a pond but keeping the right ratios of fish. Down south, some of the different strains of bass might be more beneficial.
The HBG for the first 2 years will out grow the majority of your common BG even if they are males. The aggressive nature and very little reproduction contributes to this. The girth of the fish is the most noticeable! But for the most part the BG will catch up rather quickly.
