If this is a new pond, be very VERY intentional about what you put in and what order you put it in. Many of us wished we waited to stock the larger fish for at least a FULL year after structure went in. Your growing season down south is longer than up north here and your forage fish can pull off more spawns, but still, your predators will decimate your forage in no time flat (months) Then you can't add diversity as the predators will eat the stocker fish like expensive snacks.
other southern pond owners can advise on forage but if you don't winter kill or have significant cold weather it opens a host of forage options to you that we don't have up north.
Certainly you can do standard fare minnows (FHM) but consider other minnow types such as bluntnose, shiners of all types, (spotfins, blackchin, etc), crayfish, ghost shrimp (you should be able to use either the northern or southern variety and let them multiply till there are millions of them, tilapia (although they probably will winterkill), etc.
Then consider that adding other varieties of panfish after predators are in place can be expensive as you have to stock adults forage or adult panfish rather than 1"-2" young panfish.
If I was in the south I'd love to have some variety to the sunfish or bluegill beyond straight BG, hybrids, or RES. Can you grow the colorful southern longear sunfish (ozark variety)? How about western dollar sunfish? Is there a southern pumpkinseed variety?
Another cool forage species that may do well once established depending on how clear your water is the lake chubsucker (LCS).
There are some pictures and prices for small quantities here:
Zimmerman Others with southern ponds who have dreams of expanding their forage or wish they could have added something else earlier, please chime in.
Having a clean slate is a wonderful thing and planning ahead will save hassles later.
Once you put a single bass or a single catfish in (or once someone thinks they are helping you by bucket stocking their catch in your pond without your knowledge) all your plans go out the window and the regrets start....
