Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Creating the food chain YP and SMB pond - Need forage advice

Good morning all, For those who might not know. I have a smallish 1/10th to 1/4 acre pond with Yp and SMB in it.

This year I lost my first SMB. I found him floating in the weeds at the side. He was about 12 inches long. I also have seen about 2 of my larger bullfrogs just go belly up.

One dead fish is not necessarily something to be concerned about. Same goes with two Bullfrogs. It was a tough winter was it not? It's possible they just died of old age.
I have added about 6 lbs of FHM and about 100 crawfish this spring thus far and all of the minnows are gone.

You do know fatheads are a slow moving forage fish and can be quickly wiped out right?

My YP did spawn but no eggs made it to fry. The bass last year had some that made it to fry.

Are you sure no eggs made it to fry? How do you know? They are quite small at first. Almost too small to see with the naked eye. Best way to see if you have any is to use some light. I have two floating crappie minnows I will be putting out to determine if I have any.

Also are you sure you got mixed sexes on the perch? You need more males than females too. Up to 15 per female for good fertilization.

I am concerned that even with my feeding that the food chain is not there with the FHM being killed off so quickly and with the YP not producing any young.

You may have too many fish for the size of pond you have.

I have an opportunity to get some Bluegill and other sunfish in the pond to help out with their young as a food source. Thus the question to the experts. I hate to give up on the YP and SMB only pond but I need to figure out how to get enough of a forage base for them without throwing money away weekly on new minnows that last all of a few hours.

You're definitely throwing money away if you have to continually stock baitfish. I'm still skeptical you don't have any yellow perch hatching though.

Any and all thoughts greatly appreciated/