Not sure what I did that deserves thanks but you're welcome all the same. I was hoping you would ask more questions. You have a such a great advantage with a forage pond to grow a diverse assemblage of minnow species that can meaningfully contribute to your ponds forage.
Every pond is different, habitat, fertility, feed rates, species complex, and population structures. The absence of LMB in the pond referenced above probably is why the minnows in it can attain such large numbers each year from a paltry overwintering population. But that they can do it in a pond that is full of BG ... is remarkable to me.
FHM have a big disadvantage in reproduction. The males must guard a nest and this makes them very vulnerable to predators. The females of course need a nest guarding male to successfully reproduce. I don't think FHM could make as good a living the CC-BG pond above described. The fish you see above is Gambusia Affinis, a native of your Mississipi bound watershed location in Jefferson County. Most of fish you see in the pics are pregnant females. Of the population of fish >1" length ... most of them are pregnant females. They carry the sperm of an earlier mating that can be used to spawn multiple clutches of eggs on a monthly basis. Inside each are 100 to 300 developing embryos that are protected by predators and fungus by their moms. There is a sufficient number of Moms in each photo to produce more than 20,000 fry. So the weeds make a difference I think but this reproductive strategy make the GAM a viable producer of forage.
Consider GSH which is also a native in your watershed. In addition to this members have had success with members of the satinfin shiner family. Your particular location favors Red Shiner and it is also a native to your watershed. Had your water drained into the Ozark Plateau, the appropriate satinfin would have been the Spotfin Shiner ... a native there. It maybe possible to diversify your minnows to include some that do not have nest guarding behaviors. These will be most resistant to extirpation because they will successfully reproduce while the predators are eating them.
Thanks Jpsdad for all the information. I do have GSH in my main pond. I'm not sure how well they are doing, I mostly see large ones coming up to feed. I've heard good and bad things about them and not real sure how much I want to encourage them before I know my predators have a good foothold. I don't think I've seen any of the others offered by any of the fish suppliers around here but I will search more. I'm guessing I might have to find a place to trap some.
I went with FHM because it was easy to just trap a few dozen from the main pond and put them in and let them do their thing. I also figured that they wouldn't get out of control and hurt anything.
My sediment pond is pretty small, about 50'x60' when full and running over. It was about 5' deep in the middle but I can tell it has already silted in a lot, especially after I had some clearing done to open things up and increase my run off. Also it isn't near full most of the time so is even smaller most of the time. I'm hoping soon to dig it out some and make it a little bigger and deeper. But I also want to do some more clearing above and I know even more sediment will wash in so that should probably be done first.
