If you could get either Golden Shiners or Threadfin Shad which would you choose and why. This would be for a 1 acre pond for extra LMB forage.

Thanks,
RC

RC--does the pond already have an established LMB population?
Lots of open water, or lots of cover, esp weed beds?
Any other fish in the pond, or an open slate?
North or south of I40?

Yolk enlightened me with a better solution for growing out apex predators than stocking additional forage which adds biomass and limits carrying capacity of the fish you prefer [HSB, BG, LMB].

I would recommend boosting your BG population as much as you can with feeding and adding some dense cover in 3-6' water, then PM both or either of us for the LMB growth method.

Yolk I am north of I40 in the Batesville Arkansas area. About 90 mins from Missouri give or take.

I do have LMB already anywhere from 10" to 22" but my fear is my 21 plus are not getting the adequate food they need. Not an open slate no. I have HSB,CNBG,RES, LMB

I only have 1 acre so lots of open water well not really for the most part the middle is open though. I do have several brush piles around the shore line a few tires a cinder block area but it's all in about 3 to 5 feet near shore.

No weeds or weed beds.... I have one brush pile in about 8 feet.

TJ, I have the dense cover in 3' to 6' covered I think. I already feed my BG and have some nice ones.

I have LMB, HSB, CNBG, RES in my pond. Just wanting to make sure I have plenty of food for my LMB. As I am afraid my LMB 21 inch and bigger are not getting the food they need. I am culling smaller LMB now but would like to do something more.

thanks,
RC

RC, do you look at the relative weight values of your LMB? It goes a long way in separating the unsubstantiated anxieties from the necessary concerns. Here is a list of lengths and corresponding weights provided by TAMU.

http://fisheries.tamu.edu/files/2013/09/...h-Condition.pdf

My unprofessional opinion would be that if you're feeding your sunfish and they are of 'good size,' your bigger bass could very well be preying upon them and thus be eating okay.

Yes big time that is why I am concerned. My bass over 21 inches are low........ My bass up to 18, 19 inches seem ok within a ounce or 2 of normal. I am a big believer of RW's!!! For sure.

RC

Of course I am being realistic I know I am not going to have several 22 inch 6 plus pound bass in a 1 acre pond, but I do have at least one 22 inch bass and it ticks me off that he is only 4.15 pounds... lol I am OCD like that!! Now I want to fix it and wont sleep till I do!! Dang it!!

RC

I would guess we're in about the same latitude, my pond is about 2 miles north of I40, so fairly similar at least. Having said that, TFS in this zone are at risk for winterkills, even in big bodies of water, and especially in ponds.

I am far from an expert on TFS, but have stocked them in two ponds, one ~3 acres with preexisting LMB, and one about 3 acres with preexisting SMB. Neither were able to establish for the long term, though those in the LMB pond made it for a year, which I attribute to the very large size of the TFS stocked [many were 5-6"--they looked as big as gizzards], and the nature of the pond, which is very deep [~40 feet], has very steep sides, and a fair amount of very open water. My experience makes me think that it is unlikely that you'd be able to establish the TFS, and would be paying for a lot of high cost snacks.

I have also tried to establish GSH in the 3 acre smallmouth pond-I put in about 20lbs of really beautiful 4-5" fish I got from Rex a few years ago. Same experience; lots of temporarily happy SMB. So I'm not sure that the GSH are going to fill your niche either--and you want really big, 3-4 year old shiners for your top end LMB.
[As an aside, I've been stocking large numbers of spotfin shiners in the SMB pond this year--and they seem to be thriving; they are exceptionally active minnows and can avoid SMB predation pretty effectively, it appears.....time will tell if that works over the course of the year. But these guys top out at about 5", so I'm not sure they hold an answer for you].

Are tilapia legal in Arkansas??

Ok thx for the info. Yeah I can get GSH much easier also I suppose because of where I am at... and the issue with TFS and temps. Yes I can have tiliapia but have been afraid of having a bunch of dead fish in my pond.... even though I know a lot of them get ate. And they are a bit pricey compared to GSH's.... Hmmmm maybe I just need to go on a 4 inch BG rampaged somewhere and load up my pond with them.. hehe.

thanks for your time,

RC

RC, one thing to consider is that GSH will be there year after year, unlike TP. Especially if you have some pond plants where they can hide & reproduce!

Also, thanks for the tip about posting pics! Best explanation I've seen on PB. The forum still won't allow me to post even a resized small pic, but at least I'm doing everything right.