Tried to read as much as I can but sometimes it's faster just to come and ask.

I do a lot of kayak fishing rivers around here in TX and there are some lesser appreciated native species that I really like and wonder what could happen in a pond setting with these fish.

2 species in particular are spotted bass and longear sunfish.

Obviously being in the part of TX I am I'd probably have to build a pond with spawning substrate in mind for the spotted bass. But I know they "work" in their natural ecosystem as in many rivers around here they will be the most abundant black bass you catch. Granted, I don't think I could spend the money to replicate the environment they dominate in a pond setting, but I would think one could make a pond that was sustaining with spotted bass.

And for longear, my question is in a pond without bluegill, how would these guys do? Would they take to an artificial feeding program like bluegill, how would reproduction compare to bluegill in a pond absent of bluegill, and if they did take artificial feed to what sizes could you grow them?

I know this would go against the Texan way of "biggest and baddest" as I'd consider a 3 lb spot or a 3/4 lb longear to be a "success".

My "plan" for this pond would be a 1/2 to 3/4 acre pond with like 25 spotted bass from 10-12" added in late spring maybe after a spawning season of longear/RES and GSH/FHM. I admit that I haven't done a whole lot of research on longear fecundity but I would guess from fishing experience that fecundity of longear is somewhere in between RES and BG.

Not saying I would do it, but it's just a thought I had about trying to see what I could do with some underrated (IMO) species.