Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations pond suprise!

Just got back from my pond up in washington. I ordered twenty five adult and 100 juvenile 1 - 3 inch blue gill to suplement my pond forage before I add bass. I planned to let them have a year to establish themselves before adding predators. Well I let them all go this last Sunday. Returned on tuesday to see how they are doing and to my suprise, saw several bass 8 - 10 inches. Well I went back the next day and along with a few 8 - 10 inch bass I saw a Hawg between 4 - 5 pounds! This got me real excited but then it hit me that most of my small bluegill probably became a quick snack for the population of bass that I had no idea where already in my pond. I am stoked to have some monsters swimming in my pond, but will I have to add more adult bluegill in an effort to keep them healthy? I wonder what the bass were feeding on before I added BG's? There are sticklebacks, newts, tadpoles, insects and frogs in this pond. I've seen no sign of any other forage base than what I've mentioned. The bass all looked pretty fat and healthy but that was a few days after the bluegill!? Any comments? Or suggestions?
The water is now 64 degrees. Do you think the adult BG's will start to spawn soon? Seems the bass are starting to think about it. What temp do these fish usually start to build beds in the north?
Thanks for your help!

Bassandgrass -- my best guess is that your male largemouths should already be excavating nests if you are at 64 F. That is exactly the stage that we are at in SD (a cool spring delayed spawning just a little this year). The bluegills usually start about the time that the largemouths are finishing, so it may be a couple more weeks.

How did you see the bass is my question? Water very clear, and if so you never saw them before?

Thanks Dave, I figured when I saw smaller bass real shallow that might be what they were up to. The lunker I saw was just sort of cruising around over deeper water, probably waiting for a male to build a nest and court her in for the deed.
Casca, The water is very clear, I can see about eight feet deep. I don't live at the pond site, and the last time I visited was in January. I didn't see any fish at the time so I tried fishing with some live worms but had no takers so I assumed there were no fish. Well I guess I learned an expensive lesson, make sure I know what is in my pond before adding new fish!!! Do you guys have any suggestions as to what other types of forage might work well to lighten the pressure on the BG's while they spawn? Fatheads and tilapia are illegal to import to my neck of the woods (western Washington). Thanks again for all of your help.

Just curious about the legality (sp) of Tilapia. Since they kick the bucket at low temps and feed the bass you would think they would be good for your area. Have they mentioned why they are illegal? I am trying them this year in Texas for the first time.

They tend to be very protective of introducing non native species into the waterways. The supplier from where I get fish also do not carry them. I guess I'll just try to add more adult BG's when I can save up more money to do so. Another possibility will be to add some small rainbow trout this fall. Thanks for your comments and helpful info.