Rangersedge,
In a 12 ac pond it is possible to have some smallmouth as David Willis says. Since you will have largmouth as your primary preditor the bg will stay in check. Resist the urge to put in preditors too quickly. Establish your forage base ie fatheads, shiners, bg, b-4 adding the bass.
Talk to lakedoctor about getting smb to spawn & you could maintain them too.
Add threadfin shad in your forage & you could also grow big hybred stripers.
As the experts on here always say .. It's all about your goals and your willingness to invest the time, or money to hire a pro to manageyour pond.
There would be less maintenance of the pond with only one preditor such as LMB. With minimal attentivness on your part the LMB/BG combo will be fairly straight forward compared to 3 preditors & 3 forage fish all else being equal.
But I'm with you .. think of the thrill .. Today I'm going after Wipers! Or the fun of tossing a big bass plug for LM & ending up fighting a 5 pound Smallie!
We work our butts off all our life .. We deserve to have our cake & eat it too when possible.
My advise: Hire a good pro & have your pond the way you want it!
Ric
