Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Creating the food chain New 4 acre pond

Yes I did. Stocked 8 doz FHM, 3 doz papershell crayfish, and 2 doz adult golden shiners [4-6"] in the spring. I then added my RES and YP couple months later and let it stew for a year. The following Spring I could walk across the pond on the forage - and although the FHM are long gone my Crayfish and GSH population is very strong four years later.

You can add more forage as an insurance policy to ensure survival and a spawn, but if your plans call for waiting on predator stocking you don't need to break the bank. I built my forage base on $20 and that included a bag of jerky and diet pepsi. Can be done.