Hey Shorty,
You bring up an interesting point. The stickleback are more elusive than the FHM. I am wondering whether that is a bad thing or a good thing. Once the FHM have been ravaged by hungry predators, is it good too have some minnows a little harder to catch left in reserve? Also, do stickleback reproduce in a pond? I always thought of them as a shallow stream fish.
If your hungry predators have a hard time utilizing sticklebacks, is that a good thing or bad?
I overwintered five RES in an aquarium last year and fed them FHM, they would eat 16-24 small FHMs a day. I would occasionally get a few sticklebacks that I would have to remove when I did water changes. They were elusive enough in the aquarium that they never got eaten. They were very good at hiding and avoiding predation. The spiny fins on sticklebacks may have also played some role.
