I asked a similar question a few months back on here about WP because they are just so common around here. I had some in a pond but they never reproduced, the lack of reproduction meant their was no overpopulation nor stunting and they did quite well. I caught several in excess of 14".

WP have certain requirements needed to reproduce which many small ponds do not contain. So, if you are willing to take the chance, they may make an interesting put and take fishery. Put small wild caught fingerlings into your pond to add to the mix of your fishery but hope they do not reproduce. However, this situation doesn't fit your goals as an added forage fish for your bass and pickerel.

WP make up a large percentage of the diet of LMB in the Potomac River which although is not the Eastern Shore of MD, is near by and has much of the same fish community. The high percentage of WP in the LMB diet of Potomac River LMB is probably because WP are so common not because they are an ideal forage for them.

When I was running my seine last week in the Potomac collecting forage fish for my forage pond I probably caught a couple thousand 1/2"-1" white perch, YOY fish. I caught more WP than all other species combined by far! I am sure LMB and CP do eat them. However, I just don't see them as an ideal forage for them as compared to BG or any of the minnow species found in the area.

Although WP are native to the eastern shore of MD, LMB and BG are not... So technically the use of WP in a LMB/BG pond is not really a natural combination. LMB and BG are not genetically adapted to WP in their world. When they did a study on the diet of the newly introduced northern snakehead in the Potomac River, they found that almost 80% of its diet was made up of WP and banded killifish. Again because that is what was there for them to eat. I fish for crappie a lot in the Potomac and I can say if you put a 2" WP on as bait, you rarely catch any crappies with it, however if you put a 2" GSH on, you hammer the crappies. How they can tell the difference between two silvery fish that small I have no clue?

Personally, I'd skip on the WP. WP do not affect BG, bass and other fish in the Potomac because the Potomac is a food rich body of water. The bottom is just full of scuds and grass shrimp and piles of other tasty foods for both WP and sunfish to eat. Even walleye do well in the Potomac with WP sharing the water with them. The Potomac is a vast river with lots of space and food. All that space and food allows WP, walleye and others all fit in together. In a smaller pond environment, that often isn't the case. When the WP make their spawning runs in the spring, they're fun to catch and taste just as good if not better than crappie. I just don't see any advantage they would add to your typical small pond except as I mentioned, as a put and take fishery to add some diversity, but there is that risk they will naturally reproduce and since there aren't commercial sources for them, they'd have to be caught fro the wild and there is the risk of disease and parasite introduction...