That's pretty cool! New pond. Lots of fun to come! Never thought about that waiting period. :-)
An abundance of 9-12 inch largemouth bass usually is pretty diagnostic. Unless the population is young (newly established), they could very well be crowded. If you have any panfish species, such as bluegill, they should be big! If bluegills are present, many should be at least 8 inches long (0.5 lb).
In my opinion, you're going to have a VERY hard time establishing fathead minnows in a pond with a crowded bass population. You're probably going to be feeding a few bass, and not much else. Now, there have been a few dissenting opinions on this topic lately. However, I've had quite a bit of experience with largemouth bass and fatheads in ponds, and the fatheads usually disappear within a couple of years of largemouths being present.
A better prey species may be the bluegill. Do you have them present? If not, introducing some adults this spring would provide a lot more prey for your bass than will the fathead minnow stocking.
