Thanks, Rainman. That was my initial thought to get the biggest shiners I could. I remember years ago catching 10" shiners from the pond on small Rebel minnows.
I have kind of put together a plan. I'm going to keep on working on removing all of the bigger fish from the pond. In the meantime, I bought a 700 gallon stock tank. I am going to add gravel, some muck and spawning structure to it. I'll restrict the spring water flow so the temperature is decent. I'm going to add a bucket or 2 of water from my pond to introduce algae and plankton and fertilize it. Once I get things put together I will add some golden shiners and flatheads. I hope to be able to grow some baitfish in the tank.
I'll add the biggest golden shiners I can get to the pond once the predator fish level is at a much lower level. I hope to be able to supplement that stocking from what I can grow in the tank. Once I get fry in the tank (being optimistic), I'll transfer the breeders to the pond and continue the process.
