Doug,
That is a very good start.
Largemouth bass, bluegill, and shellcracker (redear sunfish) are no problem.
The shellcracker/RES are just about neutral or transparent in ponds, yet they are extremely important in our area. They don't compete with the bass or bluegill, but they provide a very important service by helping keep the other pondfish free of white and yellow parasitic grubs. The grubs are transferred to ponds via water fowl poop. They become prolific by hosting on fish in the pond, reproducing, and creating crustaceons that the shell crackers thrive on. Not only are they a service, they grow big in our area, and are delicious.
As Bob Lusk, the Pond Boss himself, always tells people -- bluegill are the backbone of the fish feeding chain that grows bass. Bluegill feed the bass, while the bass keep the bluegill from over populating and stunting.
As for crappie -- I don't believe there are any experienced pond managers who would recommend adding them to a pond of less than a few tens of acres. Their spawning is unpredictable, and they usually spawn before the bluegill, redear, and bass. They can decimate the year-of-young in a pond, throwing everything out of balance in a pond of less than a few tens of acres.
Fall/winter/spring trout can be a real fun treat in this area. They are a lot of fun to hand feed for kids of all ages in the fall and early spring when we don't have ice. They are very acrobatic. In our area, golden trout, a mutant rainbow trout, kind of like an albino, is very easy to obtain. They are bright gold, so they are easy to spot in the water. Best of all, they are very inexpensive at an edible size normally supplied for pond stocking. Trout will usually die out during the summer in our area. I try to get mine out by June 1. They are a "put and take" fish.
One more option to think about are hybrid striped bass, or HSB. They are a cross between a white bass and a striped bass (rock fish to those who fish the Chesapeake area). They are incredible. They take feed pellets readily. They grow big very fast. They are reasonably easy to catch, and they fight like crazy. To the untrained eye, they look just like rockfish/stripers. They also taste just as good. They don't usually reproduce, so they are "put and take" just like the trout.
Back to the bass/bluegill. You can have a "balanced pond" where the bass and bluegill are both moderate in size. You can have a trophy bass or trophy bluegill pond, but usually not simultaneiously. Lots of bluegill and a few bass give you big bass. Lots of stunted bass give you a reasonalbe supply of really big bluegill.
Lots to think about. Depending on how far down you are, maybe we could meet for coffee some morning along the I-81 cooridor to discuss more of this.
Ken
