For what it's worth, I had a very similar situation,i.e a 1/4 ac pond loaded with stunted GSF and little else. I decided to try and manage the problem rather than use rotenone. In June of last year I caught and planted 10 adult LMB from several sources (10"-13"), along with 80 adult (4"-7") BG. Through last summer I caught several hundred GSF (1"-3") with hook and line, and with a fish trap. In October I put in 25 (2"-3") LMB and 20 (2"-3") RES left over from my aquarium experiment.
About 3 weeks ago I observed several of the large bass around the edge guarding beds, also there were several small groups of bass (5"-6") and a few (7"-8") bass patrolling the shallows. There were dozens and dozens of hand size or better BG all around the pond, and thousands of 1"-2" young all around the edge.
Last week I fished for the first time this year and caught a half dozen large(ish) BG (6"+) on hook and line, and caught several dozen young BG (1"- 3") and GSF in my fish trap. I certainly can't say that this is a fix (not yet anyway) but it is incredibly exciting to know that I now have a diverse and viable fish population and that the pond is on the road to recovery.
My plan is to catch out all but a couple of the large bass, remove most of the intermediate bass, and remove as many adult female BG, and small (of all kinds) BG and GSF over the next 2-3 years. The goal is to be able to go down to the pond for an hour or so on a regular basis and catch 8 or 10 large BG and a 3 or 4 (1-2lb) LMB.
