I thought I had mentioned it, but I went with the larger ones so they would survive. At the time my pond was heavily over populated with LMB that in my opinion would have made a quick snack of 3-5". There was very few forage to be found at the time. I didn't want to waste the money.
So here was the "Time and Patience" plan. I went with only 100 eight inchers, cost was less then stated previously, to see the results. Implemented a nightly feeding program in hopes of monitoring them. The feeding turned into a catfish feeding area for the first three months. It took about 3-4 months for me to start seeing the tilapia kicking in. More and more small ones started showing up. Luckly the tilapia made it through the winter and the spring started off with bang. Not only where the tilapia starting to spawn around March but there were now redears, which I had never seen, spawning later that spring. Bluegills started to be seen in much greater nubmers. Now the waters are alive with all types and sizes and the bass are doing much, much better on 18 months.
This is a short summary of what I had done and the results in my pond. Just wanted to give you my why, what's and results.
