Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations YP management in SMB pond

Based on my experience and on Bill's comments above, increased SMB density will lead to increased forage competition and result in slower SMB growth, but the increased YP predation will yield fewer, but larger YP. It's a trade off either way. Since your goal is trophy SMB, I would be cautious introducing more SMB, especially since you could have SMB recruitment already you just haven't witnessed yet. HSB will hammer YP, so do WE, but both will also hammer your GSH population. Consider your micro pond's limited carrying capacity - be wary of carrying too much biomass, can lead to major stress issues in Summer or Winter.

If you want to manage YP populations, 3 HSB and/or 5 WE ladder stocked over 5 years could add angling diversity and also help manage the YP population dynamic. However, stocking additional apex predators will likely also impact your SMB growth rates to an extent. The trick here is to find the perfect balance - this can only be determined through experimentation. Good news is WE and HSB won't recruit, so if your SMB show signs of losing WR you can easily reduce competition by harvesting some WE or HSB.

My advice would be to stay your course and wait to see if you have SMB recruitment before adding additional SMB or other species if trophy SMB are your goal.