I talked to Arkansas Pond Stockers and Fish Wagon today about their trips to VA to see what sizes of CC they offer. The largest they told me was 6-8" but I looked on the APS site and it says they can sometimes bring larger fish if offered. As recommended, I'd like to get the largest size possible but if 6-8" is the largest is there any point in stocking them in a pond with an established bass population? I'm not thinking about stocking a lot, maybe 100 or so, something to pull out and eat every now and then once they get big enough. I'd like to stock ones that are of a harvestable size since from what I read they may put on a pound or so over the summer, which would mean I couldn't really keep any until the fall.
Other question is what would the positives and negatives be of stocking HBG be right now? I haven't really gotten a good sample of the sunfish in there to judge sizes and types so I'm guessing I should probably hold off until that is done. The largest size they have available are 2 1/2-4", $68/100. The positives I can think of would be these may be more willing to initially take feed than the bg currently in there and would boost the sunfish population some without overpopulating. The negatives are that if I have pure bluegill only right now, they would cross and wipe that situation out if they weren't simply eaten by the bass right off the bat.
I checked about golden shiners but they both only offered fatheads, which I'm doubtful would become established. The only reason I think they would have any chance is that the inlet end of the pond has a very shallow slope so if they stayed there and utilized the chara (still need a pic of a strand) they may be able to establish themselves. Of course, they'd probably do the exact opposite and head to the other end of the pond where the trout and bass seem to be hanging out right now so I'm leaning away from the fhm as I think they'd probably just be a quick, expensive meal.
