Here's my spin. Avoid the large bass in the beginning. Tempting as it is, stocking big bass too quickly will set you back, and you won't realize it for four to five years.
Stock forage fish first, be patient, then stock bass, once the food chain is established.
It really doesn't cost that much. You live less than 90 miles from sportfish hatchery Mecca. Shop and save. If you paid top dollar to stock fingerlings, you could pay as little as $1,000. In these days of fast food, stocking fingerlings may seem like an eternity to maturity, but they get there much quicker than you think. Stocking big bass before a forage fish base is established, compared with stocking fingerlings at the right times, the fingerling stocking will surpass the big bass in the third year.
If you want to stock the big bass, stock 100-150 adult bluegill per surface acre now, let them spawn, the add the larger bass AFTER the bass have spawned. Your odds of success go up if you do it that way. (This amounts to 10-20 adult bluegill per bass.) Another idea, stock the adult bluegill, and only stock 20 large bass per acre, or 80 total. Better growth rates with fewer numbers, and better odds of a balanced fishery in several years.
