Note: Catch-22 refers to a Kurt Vonnegut novel about World War II, not creel survey! The joke was that a pilot asked to be excused from bombing missions (ten percent losses each mission, 25 missions...you do the math) on the grounds of insanity, but was denied on the basis that their request was too sane. Catch-22.

So here's my dilemma: My BOW does great when it comes to panfish and HSB. I feed, they grow.

For the LMB, I stock rainbow trout (when available), threadfin shad, tilapia, golden shiners and this year crawfish. And, as mentioned, I feed the CNBG which are the backbone of the LMB diet. Also I cull LMB.

Result: Loads of LMB, but size max around 6 to 7 pounds. Electro survey shows the same as fishing results.

That's not bad if all I had were northern strain LMB. But I also put in some Florida strain, and some F1 a few years ago.

Here's my question: Bob Lusk has said repeatedly that gizzard shad are key to productive trophy lakes. However, gizzards get huge, up to 2 lb, so need lots of big predators to keep them from taking over. At least 25% of LMB greater than 18 inches.

So I need Gizzard shad to grow trophies, but I need trophies to stock gizzard shad. Catch-22.

Now my HSB are large, some in 10 lb range, and they could help control gizzard shad. But there's only 95 stocked, and thus fewer than that still alive.

So should I take the risk of stocking gizzards to get the ball rolling? Or should I be content with a good non-trophy LMB lake the way it is? What are some considerations for me to think about?