Why not add a few GSH (40-100) in spring with the FHM and some crayfish? Start trapping crayfish in late March through May to get the gravid females. Eggs will be already fertilized on females carrying eggs. By fall you could have lots of all three species as forage.
If you allow these 3 species to reproduce all summer you might not get that much more actual forage production or biomass the next (2nd) summer due to these species reaching or achieving pond carrying capacity fairly quickly (one spawn season). Thus the second summer would mostly be wasted time as far as increasing the amount of minnow, shiner crayfish forage.
Fingerling SMB (2"-3") are cheaper and more available compared to larger sizes of SMB. Stocking the fingerlings does not put a lot of predation pressure on the adult spawning FHM, GSH or Crayfish until the SMB get to 9"-11" after they have been in the pond for 1-2yrs. Stocking fingerling SMB in the 1st fall allows the larger adult FHM and GS to produce spawns the 2nd year before the predation pressure gets intense. If you dobn't have a lot of SMB per acre this allows the forage base to maintain high density for a longer period.
The bigger the stocker SMB the more rare they are to locate and the price quickly increases for larger individuals.
Last edited by Bill Cody; 01/12/13 12:20 PM.
