A ranch here in the low foothills of the San Joaquin Valley has about 6 ponds. There are currently two ponds that are free of fish and they would like to get a crappie pond going. The pond would be fished pretty often and the focus would be on catching crappie to eat, not a trophy pond. Most ponds in the area have BG and LMB. I have yet to see either pond but will look at them before we begin planting.

I was thinking of starting off with some Shiners, FH and Gambusia and letting them spawn. That would be followed by the BC. From reading it sounds like I need something to prey on the BC to keep them in check, but I don't want just another LMB pond. HSB sound like a good idea but I am not sure if they legal in CA. If HSB were an option would that be an ideal top predator or should the fisherman be the only predator of the BC? Is there any advantage to adding BG, RES or CC to the equation? Thanks for any advice.