Thanks all for the great comments and I am absolutely listening to the advice to think long and hard about what apex predator I introduce into the pond. Unfortunately the put and take suggestion on the BG is no longer an option as my initial stocking was 400 mixed BG and RES minnows along with the 100 YP. I would have been quite inclined to try a SMB - YP/RES fishery otherwise. I am leaning now toward a SMB introduction as an apex predator instead of LMB as I have a bit of rock structure along one side that should provide spawning substrate and given the pond is spring fed much of the year it is clear and and bit cooler than a local farm pond in VA would be (I have the understanding that SMB are more sensitive to water quality and temps than LMB). I am not familiar with HSB and am more inclined to go with SMB as I am familiar with the species. My goal for the apex predator is to manage the BG and YP to avoid a stunted over population and I won't be fishing for them as a target species other than management.

I don't live at the property but will be there 2 or 3 weekends out of the month staying in a trailer while I build an off grid home so some level of management is absolutely possible as long as effort is on the order of 2-4 hours per visit. I am happy to harvest some BG and have two young teen boys that would be super eager to help keep them thinned out along with their friends. ;p So the stunting may not become a big issue until they are off to college LOL. I am also quite curious about options for managing them by trapping them. I have used minnow and crawdad traps but have not encountered traps for larger fish in the 5-7" range. I am sure there are threads on this but an initial search didn't locate. Any good tips or links to info on BG trapping that can be shared?