I was out at a customer's pond near Brenham yesterday. The drought in that area continues and what once was a 2+ acre pond with 10 ft of max depth is now and has been through the winter about 3/4 acre with 6-7 ft max depth. Even with good populations of predators such as lmb and hsbs, we saw shad around the entire area of the pond. Also, he said he can pick any spot on the pond and throw a cast net to catch threadfins on almost every cast.
It is my opinion, based on this and other experiences with threadfins, that shad have thrived in this pond because of the good natural plankton bloom.
I think the best approach to threadfin shad stocking decisions in any water body goes like this: If the conditions look good for shad then you should stock them at least one time and just hide and watch. If they don't make it for some reason then they may not be worth another try. Up to the pond/lake owner to change management program accordingly in order to improve conditions. If they do thrive then the investment was wortht the $. So, for ML, you shouldn't stock them again unless you change your management program. Anyone making a universal recommendation not to stock threadfins due to pond size alone is expressing unjustified skepticism in my opinion.
