Thought I would bump this thread. The OP posed the question of whether a WM only pond was feasible in 1/4 acre. No in-depth discussion about how to manage but Eric rightly suggested that he may have to employ seines and/or traps along with fishing to keep the population in good sizes.
WM are similar to GSF but are different in ways that are important to me. Now having sampled some, I do consider them more desirable than GSF. GSF, everywhere I have ever found them, have been susceptible to black spot. Also, the flesh is not nearly as good to eat as BG, IMO. Personally, would not care to have GSF but the WM ... possibly.
Drawbacks are that while they can persist with other sunfish, they just don't seem to be able to maintain a substantial standing weight when others are present. They do better in water where other species are challenged to survive. They grow much slower than RES or BG and don't attain as high a top end weight as these species can. That said, some sources describe them as having high proportions of harvestable fish. A Mississippi webpage said they were less prone to stunt in small waters. The 42 OK ponds paper I sometimes reference stated they occurred in 36% of the ponds and that harvestable individuals comprised 71% of the standing populations (3rd only to CC and LMB). So even if they don't have an internal growth clock that matches BG and RES, a greater proportion of their populations attained harvestable weight than did BG and RES. This probably owing to lower recruitment than BG or RES.
I've been investigating this and a single species pond combined with trapping or perhaps even a single predator pond may be manageable in 1/4 acre. So just throwing it out there again to see if there may be feedback and experience that can be added to the thread. Any with something to share please do!
