When one of the +-40 inch NP in our pond die of old age, I will stock a replacement. Six NP in a 5 acre pond has worked well on Bremer Pond. We have large LMB, BG, YP and enough of the new year class of each species survives each year to keep things on an even keel.
I don't believe that a NP minds eating many small meals a day rather than a few large meals. If a large NP requires a large forage fish, then why would they bite on a 2" fathead?
I also think that NP will eat a large number of common carp if they are available. We have several large brooder Carp that produce thousands of surviving young that seem to disappear before they reach 14inches from NP and LMB predation. There is nothing quite like a nice golden walleye sliding down the gullet; easy to catch and yummy in the tummy.
