as far as gams, its all been positive in my pond and others i've had experience with here and elsewhere. the only downside i can think of is where gams outcompete native species, but raising native species is not yer goal, so stick some in. as a small minnow type species, i believe they are good link in the food chain.
as far as GSF, again, all positive for me and the few other ponds i've had direct experience with. they provide preferred forage for the bass and add a nice diversity to the panfish species.
my take on why folks dont like them is that in neglected unbalanced ponds, GSF can stunt in large numbers if the bass population is weak, use biomass that the pondowner would rather see BG and bass use (out of prejudice of course
), and compete for food items in the same range as small bass.
in a balanced BG bass pond, they cant survive long because they dont breed as prolifically as BG, and the bass seem to prefer them as food.
thanks for listening to the ramblings of a madman, please wait for further input cm....
edit post....someone help cm w/ some stocking rates.
my shot for 3 acres would be a load of fatheads (did you put any fathead spawning structure in?), at least 2000 BG, 500 RES, and 500 GSF if you can get them. they are so rare most fish suppliers dont have them
