I don't think you will get much out of the FHM installment if only giving them the rest of the year to reproduce. What reproduction you do get will result in very small FHM's and your newly stocked panfish will consume them right away. My only experience with FHM was stocking about 3 pounds of breeding sized minnows in the spring in my 1/4 acre pond and giving them an entire year to do their thing. This produced massive amounts of adults in that year (massive) that were to big for my 2-6" gamefish to eat that were stocked a year later. These adults produced a whole years worth of fry that feed my small gamefish right out of the gate. By the end of the summer my HSB were breaking the one pound mark and pushing a foot long (they started at 4-6" long) and were now growing on the adults and the HBG were pushing 1/4 pound and still thriving on the YOY FHM's.

This "massive" quantity of FHM's was drastically reduced the by the following year and my benefits were dwindling. The FHM's are still present in the pond, but not for long (the FHM's 3rd year)

Bottom line is...let the minnows explode and reap the benefits, if not allowed to do so...the benefits are greatly reduced. Their reproduction is exponential with time.


Fish on!,
Noel