Ok, after reading thru a whole bunch of the questions and posts here about stocking a new pond I am more confused than anything and I am going to ask the question again before I make a mistake. I have a new pond that is approx. 0.45 acres in Southeast Michigan. It is 14 feet at one end and 12 feet at the other. I have installed a double diffuser aeration system from Stoney Creek because of its peanut shape. I do have shallow areas available at the tail end of the pond. As of right now it is stocked with 3 gallons of Fathead Minnows, 25 channel cats and 100 perch. I had planned on adding LMB in the fall. This pond is more for recreation than as a food supply. My kids and some of the neighbor kids will be fishing in it in the future so the LMB are for my entertainment and the perch are for the kids. The Channel Cats are for both but I probably won�t stock anymore of them. My question is� what else should I stock for a healthy population. I think I can gather from all the other posts that I should stay away from Hybrids, but I have heard that the perch don�t really do all that well in a small pond and I need another pan fish type.

Its not how well you do something,
Its how well you look doing it!