I don't know if I can be of any help here, but I will try. I haven't been able to be on PB as much as I like in the last year, (Yes, I miss it) but life has a way of getting in the way.

I was at Zetts in Drifting PA yesterday. http://zettsfish.com/ They are a distant family relative of Zetts in West Virginia. I picked up ten HSB 6"-7", 2 Koi and 500 FHM. They are located about 30 mins north of State College. I have purchased fish from both Zetts locations over the last four years, and I will ONLY buy from Zetts in Drifting. I know that people are sensitive about their fish stockers and each has their opinion based on their experiences. I get it. I am simply sharing my experience with both.

My experience with the Zetts in Inwood is: First FHM order: I got rosy reds, gams, and FHM all mixed in. I MAY have gotten goldfish as well since I have little idea how goldfish got into the pond. (I didn't hand-sort) Second order was larger Yellow Perch stocked shortly after spawning and all died within days of stocking. I also had bought some koi from them, some of which died.

I turned to Zetts in Drifting. I stocked 30 yellow perch fingerlings and 20 HSB fingerlings two years ago. I found none dead. I stocked nothing last year, but added the ten HSB this year thanks to TJ's recommendation of ladder stocking. (I love TJ's advice and always listen intently when he is speaking.) I kept them in bags for six hours after purchase while I drove back to my client's location and then home. They arrived home looking super-healthy. I lost two FHM's but they had some sort of trauma so who knows. The rest looked great. The koi were also healthy when they went in the pond.

So again, this is a very small purchase and ONLY my experience. I think others have had success at Zetts in Inwood. Catmandoo is very close proximity to them and can give you a better opinion.

As to HSB in a small pond: I stocked 20 two years ago at 4"-5" IIRC. They are now 19"-20" and tons of fun. I found a female dead two weeks ago and she was full of eggs. No idea why she died. I have a 1/10th acre pond. We feed twice a day. Pond has HSB, YP, and FHM.

As for forage: I feel like there is not enough forage in there. I was hoping that YP would spawn and serve as a food source for the HSB, but so far I am unsure as to their growth rate. I have never caught a YP in the pond. I found one egg mass last year and one this year. Unable to catch any fry to determine if I have YOY YP. Whenever I fish for the YP I catch bass instead. I see YP swimming the edges and they seem small, 6-8 inches. So are they growing or are they lacking forage? Time will tell. We plan on adding some papershell crawfish this summer.

I hope some of this helps in some way.