I have a 1 acre, two year old pond in VA which I stocked with hybrid bluegill, readear sunfish, and fathead minnows approx. 2 years ago and then 25 LMB early last year. The bass were 8" - 10" when stocked and did very well last year.
This year the fathead minnows are apparently all gone, the HBG are doing very well (I feed a relatively small amount 3 times daily), little sign of the readear sunfish, although I occasionally catch one, and the LMB are on the skinny side.
The pond has plenty of cover and structure so, after researching the forum, I'm thinking that my LMB problem is caused by the HBG not providing enough of a forage base. Probably should have went with pure strain BG as I am more interested in the LMB than BG.
My question: Is it a good move to supplement with pure strain BG and will this help to increase the forage base for the LMB. If so, I don't want to waste money and lose a bunch of small BG to LMB predation right off the bat so I was thinking of going with a smaller number of larger BG, either from a hatchery or relocated from another site. Any thoughts regarding this option?
