I can feel your pain Lou, I am in a similar state of decision making. Small ponds can make great blue gill factories, but they all need predators to keep them in check. My research on the subject suggests that if you go with HBG, they need predation just not as much as regular BG. Then people start talking HSB. It appears that this scenario (HBG/HSB) requires at least supplemental feeding. On the other hand, BG/LMB may require more culling and more actual hands on management, but not necessarily any feeding program. I do not believe you would be happy with just HBG as there population could grow out of hand eventually with NO predators and you would have a lot of stunted hybrids (The HBG breeds, but with mostly male YOY) It is common advise to include RES in the mix which ever way you go to help reduce snail populations that host a number of fish parasites.

Now with all that said, I put off the decision for a year by concentrating on stocking a forage base and desirable vegetation. I have stocked about 1000 FHM (in April in my 1/4 acre hole) and installed 7 pallet structures for their breeding habitat. I don't see many of the original stocked fish, but there are thousands of fry of different sizes. I will also be planting some plants in the next few weeks to get them established for the FHM to hide in. The FHM efforts should yield a great head start for my first stocking of game fish and the plants should help the FHM last a little longer (And it all helped put off the "Big" decision).

Fish on!,
Noel