Thanks, guys. Much appreciated.
Mr. Cody, I'll work on him to get a deeper hole or 2. Biggest issue is the area's too wet for a dozer & he doesn't want to get his D7 stuck in there, so we're limited to a track hoe's reach & he's concerned about possibly busting through the clay. Had to start in the center of the wet spot & work outward & with about a 1/3 of the hole dug, there's already 4'-6' of water in the deep end.
So here's my tentative game plan-
1) stock a couple pounds (5?) of FHM in the spring. Let that marinate till fall, while I figure out structure, aeration, water quality & what aquatic vegetation I may need to plant. Maybe fertilize to jump start the food chain?
2) stock 50 SSS, 50 RES & 25 YP in the fall & hand feed. I want to take a page from Augie's book & see if I can get the RES pellet trained.
3) stock 10 or so SMB that fall, along with 5? HSB as well?
4) from that point forward, I'm thinking harvest all the eating size SSS & treat the RES like I've read here for growing big BG- harvest the big females & 9"-10" males, leaving the bulls to procreate. Same with the YP, harvest at 9"-12", leaving the bruisers to spread their DNA. Not sure what size to start harvesting SMB or HSB, though. At what size will I need to start harvesting the SMB & HSB?
5) shift fire/adjust/restart based on the results of 1 through 4.
Not sure the SMB would spawn & I know as long as I have SSS or HBG, I'll have to stock fairly regularly. YP is the wild card. SSS & RES shouldn't overcrowd the pond & with the YP, I think the bass would have plenty of groceries, especially with the FHM & pellet feeding. Question is will the YP spawn & recruit & if so, which direction will they go? My focus is big bream for the table & fun for the kids, with a little bonus action for variety. Don't care about trophy fish at all & the bass are just a delicious means to an end.
Fortunately, as mentioned above, if it doesn't work out, I can always stock the appropriate number of LMB & BG & transition to that model.
