Todd,
After a couple of growing seasons, those 200 HSB per acre would be about 400 pounds of HSB per acre and after three years, could be approaching 800 pounds per acre, assuming none/few are removed. At least, that type of growth would happen in my ponds in my experience.
Are you saying that is a good/safe pond management strategy? Seems like the number that's critical to the pond manager is pounds of HSB per acre at any given time, not number of fish per acre and the pond should be managed to that number. Is that incorrect?
My approach, which isn't necessarily right or wrong but does work for me, is to stock a few HSB each year, say 10 to 15 per acre and begin removing them after a couple of years. That way, you have a continuous supply of them growing and don't have an overpopulation/weight problem to contend with all at the same time. A stocking approach/plan geared to the number of fish you plan to use per acre per year seemed to fit my needs better than harvesting large numbers of HSB all at once...but it all depends on your objectives, Walboknls1
