I've also heard that about black crappie; mostly from fish sellers. However, according to specs, the black and white crappie are even when it comes to spawning.
I know absolutely nothing about SMB in your area. Heck, maybe in any area. They don't cut it in North Central Texas.
Yep, blues can be used as a top predator. They are the ultimate predator and get big enough to eat you out of house and home. Here's the deal about cats. They just don't successfully replace themselves with smaller fish. Everything in the water dines well on catfish fry and eggs. So you wind up with a bunch of big cats that dine well on your larger finned fish. OK, except for bullheads which you don't want. BTW, several of us have ignored our cats until they have created an out of balance condition. My CC are in the 6 to 8 lb. size and are now the top predators and the top of the food chain.
Regarding LMB, they spawn heavily enough to keep the bluegill under control. Depending on area and temps, BG can and often do spawn 3 or 4 times per year. To get big BG, you need to cut down on food competition from small BG. Bass do that quite well. The idea is to have a bass heavy pond. This means being overrun with small bass that crop the small BG. Most of the LMB will wind up at about 1 pound, maybe a little more.
It's not a bad formula for a fishing pond. Underfed bass aren't that hard to catch and you will have some really nice BG. Throw in some eating size catfish that a 4 year old can catch and also watch feeding on pellets and you will have a happy kid. Look at it this way: Everything in the pond is a tool that compliments the other tools. And they are all there to put a smile on a 4 year old face. Actually, Daddy is the ultimate tool to keep a 4 year old happy.
BTW, since you are new here, I would recommend that you buy Lusks book "Raising Trophy Bass". It is only a little bit about bass but an excellent primer on raising and caring for pond fish. Also, sales of the mag support this site. The mag pretty well answers a lot of questions that I still don't know enough to ask. Both are a bargain.
