My dad bought a place in southern WI with a pond that wasn't over a ¼ ac, if that, and about 9' deep near one end. Most of the pond was shallow, maybe 3 or 4 ft. It had northerns in it. A couple were surprisingly big for a little pond, big enough to get the adrenalin going, and a number of smaller ones, maybe 1 to 2 lb. I visited him at least once a year, and he always had NP in the pond until the last time. It was no trick at all to catch the NP. Often, only a few casts and you'd have one. The NP always hung out at the shallow end. The pond had a good supply of SF and black bullheads.
He wanted to get rid of the NP and stock the pond with LMB. He got rid of the NP and stocked large LMB several times, but never saw a single one. The pond was spring fed, and I think it was too cold. He ended up with neither.
I really like NP, and just knowing there's a 4 or 5 lb northern in the pond is enough to make every cast exciting. I have no idea how big NP would grow in a half ac pond, or how well they would do in a catch and release scenario. If they would keep hitting after being caught and released a couple times, that would be great. Otherwise, I guess the routine would be to keep them and stock more. Or maybe they would reproduce in the pond. It would be the same if you had muskies instead of NP. It's hard for me to guess how black bass of either kind would do in your pond with pike. I'm sure they would all eat smaller members of the other species. What I have read is that CP and SMB do well together in the same pond or lake if the conditions are otherwise right.
