Can you just make a run to a nearby reputable supplier and grab a few ponds of fathead minnows in oxygenated bags and put them in the pond?

FHMs are omnivores and there should be some food supply still available in your pond in SW Mississippi. Some (or a lot) should make it through the winter, and as soon as the conditions are right in the spring for them to start spawning - they will get busy filling your pond with forage!

Pretty small cost to you, and all of the timing and planning considerations in the spring will be perfectly solved by the minnows themselves.

Then, if you do a spring BG stocking, their will be plenty of forage to jumpstart your BG population.

Good luck on your new pond management goals.


P.S. Did you get your leaks fixed, or are you just using the well to keep up with the leaks?