For those in Kansas or other mid-western areas interested in creating this type of interesting, creative fishery in a new small pond, I think the results would be over all more rewarding if yellow perch (YP) were used instead of BG and HBG.
For starters the record angler fish in KS is SMB 6.8lbs 21.5" and HSB 25lb 33.5"; true trophies. The record YP is 1.46lb 13.5" which is a pretty easy YP to grow in a pond especially if the stocker YP are pellet trained and fed pellets. Plus IMO YP are a much better forage fish to grow in a pond with SMB and HSB compared to sunfishes. Interestingly for food fish use a 13" LMB has a Std Wt of 1.16lbs, 13" SMB is 1.18lbs and YP Std Wt of 1.26lbs that yields slightly more body weight.
Although if the fish are for table use then consider some redear sunfish for eating snails as a good addition to minimize occurrence of pond fish parasites.
Secondarily - YP are or can be as nearly prolific as BG as far as numbers of eggs produced. YP with good numbers management can easily grow to 12" and weigh 1 pound. YP are a slender bodied fish so they are vulnerable to being eaten by SMB & HSB for longer periods in their early life than sunfishes which makes them a good forage fish. Ample medium dense types of habitat in ponds can help improve survival of small perch and BG. Less habitat allows more successful predation of YP, small fishes, and forage minnows by SMB and HSB.
Thirdly YP are naturally evolved and adapted for life as a forage fish with smallmouth bass. Many lakes with SMB as one of the main a predators have YP and weed beds as habitat. SMB are often considered not as an aggressive fish eater compared to LMB. HSB for my stocking experences have proven to ready prey on small YP and control their density. A proper predator - prey balance is important in all fisheries. One option for creating this type of fishery would be to omit the RES and use ONLY male bluegill with YP -SMB-HSB. Be aware that experiences have shown that male BG with RES will produce hybrids BGXRES. Hybridization studies in the lab by W. Childers revealed female BG X male RES produced 99% male offspring. He reported the ponds stocked Male BG and female RES produced no hybrids, although my use of this cross did produce hybrid offspring that to my knowledge were not fertile. Krumholz also saw offspring from the male BG and female RES.
Only problem is sourcing YP. I have talked to all local fish farms and none of them had them unfortunately since they are not found or common in this area. None had GSH either, which I had to purchase from Anderson Farms - a very positive experience and great company by the way.
If it was even possible to source them, would YP be advisable to add at this point? Would they be able to survive the brutally hot summers in Kansas in a 10-foot-deep pond, and with competition from everything else?
This is why I went the GSH route - body 'similar' to a YP so has the potential to be eaten once larger compared to a BG of same size which cannot (by SMB and HSB). GSH are also adapted to the weather here and found commonly in ponds and lakes in the area.
As far as adult sunfish, I will have to keep the number of adults in check that are too large to be eaten by the predators since LMB won't be present (yet). This is why I wanted to go this route, since it will provide a good fishing experience for kids with a fish that's easily self-replenished. If I can source a couple LMB over 5lbs I would be certain they are female, and I would possibly put in a couple of that size because they could help keep the large BG in check while still not wiping out all the adults. If this happened, I'd be even more strict on removing small SMB after they spawn.
I know it's going to be tricky to pull this all off as smaller bodies of water are less forgiving as far as changes, but I feel at this point as long as I keep predator numbers down, and establish a system that keeps itself in check, it should work out. Since I'm adding the predators next fall, I imagine I won't have much work to do until summer/fall of 2024.
