LM are good eating from a clean water source.
Had access to a cat pond in AL. It summer killed and filled with thumb sized shellcrackers or the like. Had access to another private lake which retained water or flooded a pasture: Caught a dozen bass from the lake and stocked them in the cat pond.
One bass didn't make the trip.
The cat pond old man loved his fish from his "bank"; he fed them like livestock: His wife fried the dead(ish) LM and his eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. He was my opposite: Didn't like to fish and loved eating them.
Sadly; I wasn't able to return for three years: The pond wasn't able to manage itself...and both had passed on: When I got back; it was filled with stunted bass and 4in bream. The boy & I thought we were in for a big deal.
The boy probably caught the "monster" of the pond--17in/3lbs: If I could go back in time; I'd only stock 4.
BTW: ^^^^This is the pond where I learned cats will hit topwater. Frogs would jump back in the pasture instead of in the water: NO shit:
That is all.