I have seen many new pond owners get excellent advice from our experts on the forum, but then they call their fish supplier and the recommended species and size of fish are NOT available.
Have you selected your fish supplier yet? If not, I would start researching that piece of the puzzle right now. Perhaps even get more than one if you have options within your driving perimeter.
I would then ask which fish are available for stocking this fall. And also ask which fish thrive in your area after fall stockings.
I am NOT an expert, but I would consider stocking your less prolific species this fall to give them a head start. Specifically, your Yellow Perch and the RES. They will love a pond full of FHMs with bugs, frogs, and snails. I am not even sure they alone can consume more than the reproduction rate for that type of forage, so you might not even be costing yourself any future reduction of forage.
[Just thinking out loud, please disregard if this advice is rebutted below by some of our pond management experts.]
