Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Creating the food chain BG crowding in new pond?

According to what im reading in these post on the board you should stock your BG/REs an or FH's in fall or winter of this year then wait a full year to stock the predators(LMB). The BG will hit spawning size in may-june of same year then spawn 3-4 times that year plus the spring spawn of the following year before the LMB enter the pond. If you stock the recommended rate of 1000 per arce/BG in a 2 arce pond. My question is wouldnt the pond be at carrying cappacity or close too it with BG/RES even before the bass show up? Then adding 200 LMB to the total weight of fish. So in return the bass wouldnt spawn as much because of being crowded? or do i got this all backwards ;]

Your well considered question is about predator/prey balance. I like the idea of stocking forage in the spring. You get a lot quicker spawning without concern for possible winter harshness. They should be ready to spawn in 6 to eight weeks, depending on stocking size. If you think about an acre, it's just a little larger than the playing area of a football field. The task for the original stockers is to populate the pond with forage. When predators are added, they will eliminate a lot of the forage and help keep the pond in balance. Without the addition of bass, you wind up with a BG heavy pond. Bass will certainly thrive and spawn with those stocking rates. The catch and release mantra has led to having a lot of bass heavy ponds with a lack of forage and stunted bass. Monitoring and culling are necessary. BTW, research shows that the biggest predator of young of the year bass is larger bass. But, you still have to do your part.