Pond Boss Forums Thread Like Summary - Less Common Forage In South Carolina?

I have been searching through so many posts and looking at as much information as I can possibly find and I am absolutely intrigued by the options available for forage.

When I read through a ton of these posts about your typical forage species I thought that I had my food chain all picked out. I figured that I would go with something pretty traditional.

Fathead Minnows
Golden Shiners
Lake Chubsuckers
Mississippi Grass Shrimp
Crayfish (species to be determined)
Threadfin Shad
Red Ear Sunfish
Bluegills
Largemouth Bass

I figured I would try my hand at breeding Tilapia to add to the pond every spring and had considered stocking Rainbow Trout over the winter, but only if it became necessary.

Then I started coming across things that were less common, but started making more sense.

Bluntnose Minnows
Spotfin Shiners
Eastern Mudminnows

What other species are there that would do well in a South Carolina pond that are maybe not as common or discussed as frequently. I've been trying to use the search function and also tried looking for some kind of list of native forage species to South Carolina on the internet, but it has yielded poor results.

Does anyone have any resources?

I don't even mind having to source them from the wild and attempting to breed them up in a small forage pond myself IF they are not available for purchase.

Thanks in advance.

I appreciate all of the comments and information guys. I'm just trying to think outside of the box a little. Kind of like the guy that started using freshwater prawn. Someone has to be crazy and try new things 😂

For the record, I plan on stocking bluegill obviously. I plan on feeding my bluegill to keep them happy, growing, and pumping out new bass food. I get that the bluegill is the backbone of the bass buffet. I'm on board with that for sure.

I'm just trying to find as many possible other forage opportunities as possible. California knocked it out of the park with Rainbow Trout. I've seen Spots that look like cartoons in lakes with Kokanee salmon. So, it has me trying to connect the dots and trying to find the next fatty little niche in this game.

A pond is full of nutrients, depths, habitat and various abilities. The more of that we are able to use, the more productive our ponds will be. It's like adding sheep to your herd of beef cattle. The sheep eat something that the cattle leave behind and now your dollar value per acre increases. Your land holding stayed the same and your production went up by making more efficient use of the space you have available. That's kind of what I'm trying to figure out.

So, that's where I'm at. I'm not trying to be stubborn or difficult. I'm just trying to find that diamond in the rough that might make a difference for all of us 🤷