Hey Beau,
As you can see, there is more than just a little bit of passion on the Pond Boss website. Meadowlark has learned a lot from his ponds. Todd Overton has learned a lot from his, and many others, ponds.
Here's what you need to do.
1) Establish your goals and keep them firmly in hand to start your program.
2) Learn as much as you can about each fish which might fit into your stocking and management plan.
3) Learn as much as you can about the proper care of a pond, its habitat, food chain, genetics and harvest.
4) Evaluate your resources, including the pond, a budget, the time you want to spend caring for the pond and its inhabitants.
5) Make a plan.
6) Follow the plan and monitor its progress, so you will know what to do next.

Here are some facts about the different kinds of fish.

Largemouth Bass (LMB)-In the south, lmb are considered "king" of the fishery. Large mouth, heavy predator, lmb's eat whatever moves and fits into their mouths. The reproduce easily in a pond environment and tend to overpopulate and overeat the food chain. This can be an advantage, especially if your main goal is to grow giant sunfish. The main disadvantage to heavy reproduction is that you have to work hard to grow large bass, especially in small waters. The reason some hatcheries won't recommend lmb in ponds smaller than an acre is because it's hard to keep the fishery balanced. It can be done, fairly easily, if you understand how to play.

Coppernose Bluegill (CNBG)- Sunfish native to Florida, Georgia and Alabama, transplanted with great success all over the south. While these fish thrive in southern waters, they don't particularly do well in the Midwest or North. They grow as large as 2 pounds. I have seen hundreds of thousands...no--millions of cnbg over my 28 year career as a professional private fisheries biologist, and I have seen less than ten that weigh more than a pound. I have probably seen several hundred in the pound and a half size class and thousands that weigh more than a pound. They have a small mouth and tend to take longer to grow large that sunfish with larger mouths. Cnbg aren't picky about what they eat, but prefer insects and small fish. Cnbg readily accept floating fish food. They reproduce like Madonna adopts kids, about three to five times yearly in the south. Cnbg can mature sexually at 2.5 inches in length.

Native strains of bluegill...same as cnbg except native strains often thrive in their native ranges more so than other strains (except for cnbg).

Redear sunfish (RES) grow as large as 1.5 pounds. They feed exclusively on crustaceans...small mussels, snails and crunchy bugs. They won't eat fish food. RES spawn once yearly and are used to help control the spread of grubs, for diversity in fishing and to add and "insurance" policy for extra forage fish for lmb.

Georgia Giants (GG)-a termed coined by Ken's Fish Hatchery in Georgia for a proprietary blend of genetics of fish that are basically a cross between green sunfish (gsf) and bluegill (bg). Ken's has gone through years of sifting and selecting special fish for his crosses and they won't tell anyone what they have done. That's the proprietary part. Debra has done an excellent job of representing that fish in public and on this website. Ken has earned a reputation as a promoter and kind of a maverick in the fisheries business. People continue to buy the GG's, and similar to Meadowlark, are please with their results. I bought some of them in 1985 and raised them in several different hatchery ponds and never had a fish grow larger than 3/4 pound. I gave them up after several years. But, they can serve a good role if you want fast growing sunfish as your primary gamefish or as a secondary fish to a catfish fishery. Some claims have been that GG's will grow larger than 3 pounds. If so, that's an exception, not the rule. It is a true hybrid, and should not be able to reproduce. However, usually 90-95% of the fish are males. The remaining females can have viable eggs and will reproduce, normally with a different species of sunfish. And, when a HSF reproduces, the progeny CAN'T be what its parents were. They have a larger mouth than bluegill and have an early advantage in the food chain. Therefore, expect rapid growth rates from this aggressive creature. But, they are terrible for forage fish production...not only because they don't adequately reproduce to be a food base for larger predators, but also because they directly compete with other predator fish. HSF love fish food, but won't turn down a fish small enough to fit in its mouth.

Hybrid Sunfish (HSF)-readily available sunfish from many different hatcheries around the nation. Most of the time, HSF is the result of a cross between female green sunfish and male bluegills. However, some hatcheries will experiment with different crosses between different species from time to time. Expect this cross to grow to 3/4 pound.

Smallmouth Bass (SMB)-Cool water fish best reserved closer to the Mason-Dixon Line than anywhere in Louisiana, especially in small waters. They can't stand the heat. There's lots more about SMB, but not for this post. Just don't use them in Louisiana.

Hybrid Striped Bass-(HSB) HSB is growing in popularity because it grows fast, readily takes fish food and is easy to catch, if stocked densely enough. Another plus is that what you stock is what you get, considering a moderate amount of attrition. HSB "cruise" a pond, focusing mostly on the open water, looking for food. That makes them of less use in smaller waters than larger bodies. While some people have had success in ponds smaller than an acre, I hear less good things about them than I see or hear in ponds at least three acres in size. They grow exceptionally fast, reaching 8-10 pounds in their third year, if properly fed and with plenty of clean, aerated water in the south.

So, all that to say this...here's what I would do with your pond. Since you want some large sunfish, stock coppernose bluegill with fathead minnows to start. Buy fingerlings and let them grow up. For 1/4 acre, stock 200 fingerling cnbg. If you want fast growing sunfish, stock another 200 HSF. Add three pounds of fathead minnows, make sure they have a place to spawn. Fatheads like to lay their eggs on the underneath side of firm objects such as rocks, pvc pipe, wooden pallets, docks, etc.
Feed your fish a good floating fish food such as Game Fish Chow or Aquamax. Feed what they will clean up in five minutes. If you aren't near your pond, consider a feeder. Feeding expedites things and you can see your fish.
Then, early next spring, stock 5-8 Female largemouth bass to clean up your "excess" sunfish. Buy them from a reputable dealer or hatchery and make sure they are females. That will give you your giant sunfish and 3-5 pound bass for a quarter-acre pond.

Bob Lusk
Editor, Pond Boss magazine
Fisheries Biologist and Lake Management Consultant

Teach a man to grow fish...
He can teach to catch fish...