Are you planning a new pond? There are some things I think would be beneficial to the long term survival of forage species, in particular species like bluntnose minnows and spotfin shiners. The biggest factor I have seen is extensive shallow areas. People think shallow and immediately think vegetation take over. To prevent this, lay down rock. What more do smallies like anyways? The vegetation isn't going to grow through rock. The rocks provide prime habitat for bluntnose minnows. For both spawning and refuge. If the pond has good areas of shallow, say 6"-18" rocky areas and the bluntnose minnows/spotfin shiners are given a good period of time to spawn unharassed by predators I could see both species doing fine even under SMB predation. As long as the SMB are not allowed to get too overpopulated.
Kenc was nice enough to offer me the use of his fyke net to collect LCS for you. So with the use of it, I may have a better chance at collecting some LCS for you. Just a matter of me figuring out how to ship them to you... They probably would be in the 3"-4" range.
