Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Selecting a site My Pipe Dream

You could definitely do SMB in N. Alabama. Steep pond edges lined with rock will give great SMB habitat, and minimize shallow water warming during the summer. Aeration will assist with water quality. Not sure YP will be able to reproduce [mine haven't], but you have a lot of other options for forage, including TFS, which would make spectacular SMB forage [though I'm not sure the smallies wouldn't wipe them out]. Golden shiners, lake chubsuckers, and possibly a very small, not highly fecund sunfish might all be possible as other forage sources. I wouldn't worry about spawning structure--they'll find a way to propagate, and a bigger concern over time is too much recruitment, and loss of forage base as a result. Smallies don't have the reputation for voracious feeding the way LMB do, but don't kid yourself, they'll put a huge dent in anything they really like and can handle, as Esshup noted. I have not been able to maintain or reestablish populations of crayfish, golden shiners, or TFS despite some good habitat. Some of your smallies will stay on pellets, and a few of your young smallies will self recruit, but my experience is that if you give them natural forage that they really like, in abundance, they'll take out a preferred forage first, then go to pellets, even if pellet trained.