I will read over the articles and data provided as well as await the post by Bill Cody,
With that said, I wanted to answer a few questions.
I stocked the BG and FHM in August of 2022. I plan to stock the Bass in the fall of 2023. I did hand feed the BG throughout the winter whenever we got a warm day, however did not feed them on any regular basis at that time.
Currently, water temperature is still below 60 degrees as it is still cold (30s) in the morning before warming up into the 70s in the afternoon. I expect that within the next 2 weeks, temperatures should continue to rise to increase the water temp above 60 degrees.
I am currently hand feeding the BG late afternoon every day to get them both acclimated to the feed as well as to feed them in general. I plan to begin running my TX Hunter Feeder as soon as the water temp gets into the high 50s. I will start with 2 feedings per day of shorter intervals and then increase to 4 feedings of the appropriate intervals.
As far as food, I know that quite a few people here swear by the Optimal Fish Food, however I am currently using Purina Aquamax Sportfish MVP. I was impressed by the fact that there are 9 different pellet sizes with a mix of floating and sinking feed. To me, this means I am better equipped to feed the entire food chain. I know the Optimal has a lower fat rating then the AquaMax and as I get bigger fish through the years I may need to make a change, however as someone mentioned in here, I need more fat content for my younger and smaller fish.
My pond is not currently aerated, however I do plan to do so in the future. I plan to read over the aeration section of the forum as I would specifically be looking for a solar powered unit (my pond is not close to an electrical connection) that allows me to aerate from the bottom of the pond to provide as much oxygen as necessary.
I believe that currently I have very good water quality. I have a high alge count as my water is green, however there is not moss or pond scum or anything prevalent in the water currently. Later this summer when the pond warms up, I will use some pond testings kits that I have to try and verify my beliefs. With that said, there is not currently a large amount of underwater plants. As this is a new pond, there has not been a significant amount of time for them to grow as this will be the 1st summer.
Structure wise, I opted to go with artificial structure as opposed to organic. I went with Mossback Habitats and have 3 Safe Haven XL, 8 Trophy Tree XL, 2 Root Wad (near the BG spawning area of pea gravel). I also have a tire wall of around 40-50 tires on one side of the pond that is layered to climb up the pond wall from the bottom of the pond to about 2 feet below the water line. I originally designed this for an area for the Minnows, but the BG appear to be loving the area themselves. I am contemplating adding another couple of Safe Haven XL in some of the shallower areas of the pond. However, I believe that based upon calculations, I currently have adequate structure. I was concerned about having too much structure and making it too hard for the Bass to catch BG.
As far as what size bass to stock, that is where things get a bit hairy. If you had asked me a month ago, I would tell you that I was planning to stock adult LMB. My stocking guy tells me that he has 8-10in and 12-14in Bass. I was planning to stock a mix of the 2 of them. However, upon reading here, I am concerned about how old these LMB actually are. Are they 3-4yo Bass that he has hung on to? Or 1-2yo Bass that he is feeding the crap out of to sell for a premium? I don`t know the answer to this questions yet as I am still doing the research on what the appropriate questions to ask are. I know what he does have FTLMB as he mentioned he normally does a mix of food trained vs non food trained LMB. I have read some posts here that say otherwise, but he said in his experience, the non trained LMB learn from the trained ones and begin to eat the feed. I am sure I could request all Food Trained ones to be on the safe side, but wanted to provide what my "prior plan" was. I know that I dont want to stock fingerlings or smaller LMB, but I need to get more information to determine exactly what size to stock.
It sounds like I definitely need to stock more BG, however I will read over the posts to determine what the proper amount is. I also expect that by waiting a full year to stock the Bass, it will allow the BG and Minnows to spawn and further create the forage base. I would stock additional 4-6in BG and another 40lbs or so of Minnows at the same time once I determine the appropriate amount of additional BG needed.
