Originally Posted By: Bill Cody
…. I would just release the bought fish and hope for the best. Importantly in addition, I would add more FHM and some GSH to help take the predation pressure off the new stocked fish. Add as many minnows as your wallet and wife will allow. The more you add the higher the chances of survival of the new SMB-WE. Minnows that don't get quickly eaten will provide some needed easy food throughout winter for the new fish to keep them healthy over winter. WINTER is the hardest season for fish to survive.

As an added help/benefit, I would immediately get fishing and catch-remove as many LMB as you are able to catch. Use all sorts of baits including live bait esp minnows. See how good of an angler you are! The more all sizes of LMB removed the better this will significantly improve the chances of new fish survival. This definitely removes strong predation pressure on the new SMB-WE. Plus the more LMB you can remove allows more minnow forage to survive to benefit the SMB-WE. Your goal is to get them to SURVIVE!

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+1000...This is exactly what I do. My bride and I harvested all LMB 14 inches or larger that we could catch this summer in preparation for ladder stocking WE this fall. We will be stocking 10 lbs of GSH and 10 lbs of FHM into our 1/2 acre about a half hour before we stock the new WE. In my opinion, the bait fish will be a distraction prior to putting in the WE. I think the longer the WE have to acclimate to their new surroundings without getting eaten improves their chance of survival exponentially. The FHM are also within the mouth gap of the WE so they get an easy meal for a while. I have been using the "add baitfish first distraction" for the last 5 years with great success. I also think it is important to stock into the coldest water you can as it slows the LMB down while the cool water WE are still very active..

Last edited by Bill D.; 11/02/19 09:54 PM.
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