Went back again today. Minnows survived the night so I got to try em again. Caught a lot more little ones but did catch this 14" and 11" LMB. Caught 2 @7" 3 @71/2" and 1 @91/2" The 14" did weigh on my scale at 1 lbs. and the 11" weighed about 1/2 lbs. Total weight of all caught was 3 1/2 lbs. I think these are pretty underweight. They look long and skinny. What do yall think? I still think I need to be taking out all the lmb that I catch.
Sounds like you are on the right track.
A feeding program would really help out your forage fish situation. The feed will put the existing BG adult population in a lot better shape to produce larger spawns.
Your intentions of adding adult size forage fish and putting in cover for the fry are good moves.
One thing I would suggest though is forgo the addition of GSF for the time being. I am not an anti-GSF guy at all. But consider their mouth size. A GSF will, inch for inch in length, have the same size mouth as a LMB. So you are removing small LMB but adding GSF with a similar size mouth and feeding capability. If you want more GSF in your pond, wait till you get your BG up to speed, then add the GSF later after your forage base is in better condition. My concern for the present is any adult GSF you add are adding to your predator population eating your 1-3" forage fish.
