Hi CJBS2003:
Where in northern VA? I live in the northwestern corner of Hardy County about a mile and a half west of 220 and a mile or so south of the Hampshire line.
I looked at your stocking mix and timing and it appears to make a lot of sense to me. Since CC are put and take I see no reason for them in this pond. Unless they do a good bit of house keeping in cleaning the bottom etc. I agree it is a pain to wait a year to add the LMB but if it is worth doing it is worth doing right. Don't know much about Pumpkinseeds but definitely like what I have read about RES. It would be pretty easy to get the crayfish from a pond instead of the river, again it makes sense. Timing would not seem to matter on the crayfish as long as I got a hundred or so in by fall.
As Koi appear to be a pure ornamental I can put a few in at anytime in a larger size if I decide I want them. Definitely don't want carp of any color. I am still a bit paranoid about the shiners. the pond in question is one of the flood control dams built after the 86 flood and already had LMB up to 6 pounds or more before the GSH were added and now 1/3 or more of the small fish you catch are shiners. Admittedly the pond has not been well managed. The fatheads and Banded Killifish look good; I will think about the GSH a little more.
In general though I think I will go with your recommendations; I presently have about 2 to 4 feet of water in an area about 100 ft by 150 feet. So I think I could go ahead and stock the forage minnows. My engineer when he designed the pond put a 6"drain line in the bottom with about a 2 ft riser on it to keep a small pool but still allow it to be mostly drained to remove sediment or repair the pond. It is spring feed and takes about 2 weeks to fill without rain. About an inch of rain will fill it as it has about a 600 acre watershed all pasture and wooded no cultivation. Mostly active pasture with cows.
I will look up catmandoo's posts; he probably lives pretty close to me.
