I think Mikes point is when you add additional forage fish, you are not adding to the total pounds of forage in the pond. If you add 20 pounds of minnows then you take away the food available for 20 pounds of other fish in the pond, including bass fry. Its seems like the boys up north have to be very careful when stocking additional fish. They dont have the bass "factory" situation like down south. They can drasticly effect the fishery by adding addtional fishes up there.
I think fathead minnows are good for new ponds. they give bass fry another fish to eat as they grow. I have never seen a pond that has an established fathead population with adult bass. Bass seem to eat them all up. I question there effectivness as additional forage in established ponds. They are simply too small, remember bass have to eat 10 pounds to gain one pound. Ten pounds of fathead minnows is a lot of fish. Why would you want your bass swimming around hunting 2 inch fish? Its like running a maraton to eat an M & M. not worth it!
I think bass will grow faster and be happier eating larger meals, like bluegill or shad. Fatheads are for giving newly stocked bass a quick and easy meal during the first year. After that I would worry about bluegill reproduction and not the fatheads.
