I know stocking adult bass in a new pond is not a good idea but I can't wait for 3 or 4 years to fish! My pond is a bout 1 1/4 acres and was dug last November. It's nearly full with the deepest section about 18 feet. This spring I stocked 300 hybrid bluegill, 75 channel cats and 8 lbs. of fathead minnows. I plan on adding 100 redears as soon as my local hatchery has them in stock. I've also added about 75 dozen crawdads from local creeks. I intend to keep supplementing forage almost on a weekly basis. The local creeks I seine have an endless supply of chubs, shiners and suckers. I literally can seine 500 per hour. My kids love going to catch crawdads and minnows anyway. Last Sunday we caught 18 dozen crawdads in 3 hours. I should note that I am not putting anything in the pond that I can't identify. My plan is to stock mature bass in the spring after the bluegill spawn. I know this isn't the conventional way but I'm very "hands on". My question is can I make this work? It seems to me that if I focus on good cover, good water quality, and a good food source I can make this work. I'm also installing a large aerator next week. Opinions/advice?