Hey Dan

Been watching your posts - insatiable appetite, great questions, you're totally obsessed...and I love it! There's a ton of great info on this very topic - I would definitely recommend ordering all PB back issues and reading! I did that this Summer and have read every issue several times.

At any rate - I will chip in with my experience but Ewest, Bill Cody, Theo, Sunil etc. can dig a lot deeper than I. I faced the same decision three years ago as you and elected to stock SMB. Why? First off, I enjoy catching SMB over LMB. Also, SMB fisheries in my geography [Eastern NE] are rare to nonexistent. I can fish 50 farm ponds within 20 minutes and catch all the BG and LMB I can handle, but have to drive 6 hours for good SMB. Another consideration is that you can always change your SMB pond to a LMB one by adding a dozen LMB, but it would be nearly impossible to change your LMB fishery into a SMB one unless you apply Rotenone the entire BOW and start over.

You want to try a SMB/LMB fishery? Dr Dave Willis has performed extensive research on this topic and you'll need to be prepared to supplementally stock SMB every few years to keep their populations viable as LMB will outcompete the SMB and you'll have little to no natural SMB reproduction. Bear in mind the existence of 17" LMB will necessitate stocking advanced SMB fingerlings which are FAR more expensive and difficult to locate. 6-8" fish to be safe at $.50-$1.00/inch...that's a significant fiscal commitment.

Stocking recommendations for SMB fisheries? I encourage you to get with Bill, Ewest, and Dave Willis on this to verify:

Suggested species to stock for SMB fishery in MY GEO - FHM/GSH as forage, RES [Redear Sunfish], perhaps YP as additional predator or HSB and of course your SMB.

GSH may find have difficulty surviving your climate, perhaps a spotnose shiner would be better acclimated?

RES may not make it through your climate - they are native to more southerly climates...BG are too prolific for the SMB to handle. PS [Pumpkinseeds] are native to WI but are also very prolific and could pose a problem? For a northern pond I'm not sure what panfish would be ideal for the SMB fishery. An expert will provide some guidance here.

Regardless of whatever approach you take, I would recommend stocking copious amounts of forage ASAP and allowing them to establish and multiply over several months to a year prior to stocking any predator fish.

Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after. ~ Henry David Thoreau

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