MrHello, if you went with tilapia, depending on the species, they will go belly up in cooler weather so the "stench" takes longer to develop.
You have not really said what your goals for the pond are. If it will be simply a forage pond for the time being, I would suggest stocking Fatheads and Golden Shiners for year round forage availability. If you want a big boost in numbers, add tilapia in the spring each year.
FH and GSH are fairly easy to seine where tilapia are notoriously difficult to seine in ponds not specifically designed for that purpose.
