ewest,
Thanks for all of that additional information!
I am just fine with you including some generalizations. There are so many interacting variables that it would be very difficult to make authoritative statements on some of my broad questions.
I believe I remember the discussion on Pond Boss that you recount in your first paragraph about total BG fecundity being roughly the same in the south and north, but the timing being different.
I thought I also recalled a discussion (on Pond Boss?) about northern-strain LMB living longer than Floridas. Now I don't know if I just remembered it wrong, or if it was some bad internet article that I read!
As regards your BG point. I would think the southern strategy of "fewer BG per spawn with more spawns" would result in larger BG more quickly. The first spawn would have the most forage available to them, and some of the BG should become "right-sized" for trophy LMB sooner.
However, I don't know how we turn that into a management advantage? Could you throw some weed fabric over the prime BG spawning space in a southern pond after the first or second spawn? Would fewer BG gaining weight more rapidly preferentially help the trophy bass more and the smaller bass less?
