Caging the fish will do a few things. 1) get them acclimated to the pond, and acclimated fish seem to "stand out" less, therefore drawing less attention from potential predators 2) If they are feed trained, it will reinforce the feed training. 3) allow you to verify how many LMB survive the initial fish transport.
If the LMB aren't feed trained already, it will be hard but not impossible to get them feed trained. You will have morts though, so if going this route I would add at least 50% fish to the order. Once they are feed trained, and ready for release in the fall, you can verify the stocking numbers. IF all survive in the cage, I would NOT stock them all, just the "shooters" and enough of the non-shooters to meet your stocking goals. Either find homes for the others or make them into coon food.
