I have to admit that Clay has been speaking to your's truly. What makes us our operation different than a lot of fish dealers is that we can handle our fish once or twice to get them on the hauling truck on pond water (not well water), then stock them with a guaranteed <10degree water temperature difference.
As an industry standard in the south, largemouth bass fingerlings are available at the earliest in late May/early June. This is the ideal time to stock bass fingerlings, so that they may enter the natural world at a young age and learn the skills necessary for survival. In order to have fingerlings for sale through the summer and into the fall, we and many other hatcheries keep our bass fingerling in raceways on pelleted feed. We don't stock bass fingerlings in earthen ponds for advanced grow-out until they are at least 6" due to high risks of cannibalism. Due to the high raceway stocking densities, these bass don't grow near as fast as they would if they were eating fish in a pond, assuming the pond had an adequate natural food source.
Our fish are currently handling and transporting well and we have a near spotless reputation for quality and transport success. With this break in the extreme heat (the north wind is indeed blowing here) I think it is a good idea to go ahead and stock. If I feared mortalities or severe stress then by all means I would not have recommended stocking now.
The stocking rates I recommended are free and up for debate. My recommendation was 100 bass and 100 catfish.
