As noted above: "If interested in YP &/or RES as panfish, you can also stock fingerling YP in Spring when you stock the minnows or stock YP (2 sizes) in the fall with the SMB. Then the YP will spawn the next spring and provide YOY YP as extra forage for the SMB in addition to minnow shiner-forage.""

Fingerling YP of 2"-4" do not normally eat lots of minnows at least few if any minnows longer than 1.2". These smaller YP are thriving on primarily invetebrates, mostly insect larvae that are too large for the minnows and shiners. Once the YP get to 5"-6" then the diet becomes more and more small fish 3/4"-1.3" long. Thus a very large majority of the first FHM spawns survive into the first fall-winter. After the YP spawn and SMB are added expect to see large reductions in FHM numbers. After SMB spawn, the number of FHM often disappears, usually the smallest ones 'go' first and later the adult FHM disappear due to SMB predation. Then the fishery has to rely on other forage species as the 'backbone' of the fishery. This is where a shiner-crayfish combination, pellet feeding and maintaining proper number of prey and predator are VERY important for producing a truly high quality fishery. BALENCE of numbers is important. Overpopulation of predators and not enough prey species are often the main problems in many ponds.

If one uses pellet trained YP as first stockers then the stocking numbers and sizes can change significantly.

Last edited by Bill Cody; 02/26/12 06:23 PM.
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