OK, I'm just going to put down my thoughts here and hopefully they will be helpful. This is how I would do things if I were you....
1) Frame up a dock section where the end of the dock will get you out to 6 ft of water or deeper, so that you can secure a cage or two to the end of the dock. Build out of green treated lumber. A great place to order dock floats is Home Depot if you have one close by. They will deliver to you or to the store and are more reasonably priced than other places I've dealt with.
2) Purchase a TREATED net with lid from Duluth nets. I'm not sure on net size, but I'm guessing 1/4" would contain them. 4'x4'x4' would seem like more than enough. I've got one on the way so I will let you know what I think of their product. Anyway, call and talk to Bryan Sederberg. He's a great guy to deal with. Tell him you were referred by a pheasant hunter in south central Nebraska.
https://duluthfishnets.com/store/assorted-nets/small-mesh-net-pens/3) I'd order the smallest order of Optimal #2 that you can get from Optimal. I know they have options as small as 10lbs. You'll be amazed how far that goes. Within a couple weeks you will graduate to #4 (they are currently redoing their #3 and don't have any available, or at least not the last time I checked). And then you can grab the larger bags and go from there. Again, Dustin at Optimal is amazing to work with.
4) Purchase a FIAP belt feeder. Personally I'd go with the Belt Feeder Pro version, because it can be taken apart and sanitized better. And it runs about the same price. So there is no reason not to. The only place I've found in the states that sells the Pro version is Aquatic Equipment and Design. They've also been wonderful to work with. These feeders will run around $300 but I promise you will use this extensively over your time as a pondmeister. It gives you so many options for feeding small fish in grow out situations. These fish will take great advantage of being fed all day rather than once or twice per day. The digestive track of small fish need frequent feedings. This does the trick. As they get bigger you can go to hand feeding them and use the belt feeder to grow out other fish.
https://www.aquaticed.com/products/fiap-belt-feeders?_pos=1&_sid=caf21a272&_ss=rSome notes for a conclusion.... if it's like the last two years, you will likely receive your fish around June 20th. From there these things will explode. By Labor Day they will be well over 4" and able to escape predation in larger ponds. I'd continue to feed them through September. Once the water drops below 60 the feeding on floating feed will slow to a halt. But with a belt feeder you can supplement with sinking pellets in small amounts, if you choose not to release in your larger ponds. I would not release the fish into your grow out pond to grow them out. Seining them tends to be difficult and is very hard on the fish. Many times the 'spiking' of each other leads to a fungal infection that will kill the fish off 1-2 weeks later. You can grow way more fish in a cage than you realize. I know you can grow 600 fish to 6" in a 4x4x4 cage. So I would just keep them in the cage until you are ready to release. Although after some growth you may want to put them in a cage with larger mesh so that you get better flow thru of water. I don't really have great advice on that YET, but I'm hoping to learn soon. Bryan from Duluth Nets would have answers for you on that.
Now for the price tag.... Dock $300-400 for a 4x12 dock with a float from Home Depot, Belt Feeder $300, Net $120. Now this may seem a bit high, but I'd suggest figuring that these are items that will get used regularly in growing out fish, whether it be RES, another year of HSB, feed trained SMB, etc. Or in the case of the belt feeder, I'd get in the habit of putting it in your larger pond in the spring and fall and running sinking feed thru it during those times of year that the water is too cold for fish to hit floating pellets. It'd work especially well to supplement your RES growth during those times of year.
I'll try to add to this discussion as more thoughts come to mind and as you guys ask questions. Although I'm not sure my knowledge is all that extensive, I at least have minimal experience in this area.
