Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose My Stocking Plan....your advice is appreciated

Yes, that is true. Smarter fish survive to grow larger. I have some CC in my pond that have been caught once or twice. The last time they were caught, I put a numbered tag in them to monitor their growth. I caught one in 2009 and one in 2010 and tagged both. Haven't been caught since. At the time of tagging, they were around 29" and 15#.....

The RES will eat snails, which are part of the life cycle of some fish parasites. I'd leave them in the stocking plan - they can get pretty big too, and will help the overall health of the pond long term.