Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Raising Forage and Bait Unlimited supply of TFS! SMB/WE/HSB forage?

FYI: Spotfin shiner is SFS just so everyone is on the same page

Trophy Pond 1 (1 -1/2 acre)

SMB 50 fish fall 17 - if you truly want trophy SMB, you could even cut this down to 25-30 SMB. If you could select females only, now that would be huge. Otherwise, eliminate rocky substrate in this pond to help discourage spawning, and YOY SMB are easily netted in larval stage with fine mesh net. I do this every Spring and transfer to grow out pond.

YP 250 fish fall 17 - you could bump this up also if you want - YP will help SMB by providing additional forage and I think forage competition should be minimal once SMB get up to 12-14".

RES 300 spring 17 - recommended to graze on snails and help manage black/yellow grub. Juvenile RES will only help provide some forage also, and allows you another target fish for angling. Imagine your RES will grow well with no competition for their favored forage items.

FHM 1-2 lbs spring 17 - Hand sort these to sort invasives, verify ID on every fish, and a pound or two given a season or more to reproduce will provide a nice population for your SMB and YP to hammer and put on weight fast.

TFS ? lbs fall, spring annually - Sounds like a plan, just be sure to sort these too to avoid any invasives.

PSC 50 crayfish fall 16 - verify ID per our conversation - avoid burrowing species.

I think you can also add BNM, LCS and SFS to help provide additional forage species for the SMB. Since you have forage cells you can raise your own exotics and will be the envy of many of us! I can teach you a trick to help SMB attain fast growth I learned from Dr Dave and Bruce - and it's a lot of fun, too.