Bill, I gave a year inbetween placing the YP and the SMB into the pond. The YP came in at 3-4inches and by year2 were at around 6-8 inches when the 3-4 inch SMB made it into the pond.
The initial stocking was at around 100 YP and 25 SMB. I only know of 1 YP and 1 SMB that have died. That being said, last year I only saw an average of 6-12 SMB near the surface at any given time. Last year the SMB did succesfully produce some fry.
The YP were never pellet trained and in truth the SMB are the only ones hitting the pellets on the surface.
As for free standing vegitation, I do have limited vegitation due to steep sides ( near 75 degree drop off to 4 ft deep then 4 ft shelf then 75 degree drop to max depth )
I do have lots of rock structure and pine trees ...etc as structure.
I hope this expains things better as to what my pond is like.
