After having done both spring and fall stockings a few times now, I am more in favor of spring stockings.

This is because you have all summer to observe the new fish. For us northern pond owners, the fall stockings only give us a month or two before freeze up, and who really knows what happens all winter long.

Then along with spring thaw comes spring despair while we wait to see any signs of the fall stocked fish.

Excerpt from Robert Crais' "The Monkey's Raincoat:"
"She took another microscopic bite of her sandwich, then pushed it away. Maybe she absorbed nutrients from her surroundings."