That approach was done at one of my clients ponds. Unfortunately when the pond was dug, there were a few GSF in the wet area that he didn't know about. The slow approach let the GSF multiply rapidly, so much that the RES and YP that were stocked never had any recruitment. The plan was to stock RES/YP at about 50% of the recommended rate as fingerlings and let them grow and multiply for 2 years, then stock SMB. The pond was rotenoned because of the high % of GSF in it. I think that if the correct stocking rate was followed from the beginning, that the GSF would never have been a problem.
It would have been less expensive in the long run to stock the correct amount of fish.
Just like the purchase price of a puppy is most likely the smallest amount that you will spend on the dog, the $$ spent towards stocking your pond will be the least amount that you will spend on it. Yes, I AM in the business, and I DO sell fish, but I feel that you will be money and more importantly TIME ahead if you stock it with the correct amount of fish in the beginning.
