No... don't give up (you will ruin your reputation as a mad scientist
)
I can't help at all with the construction part but what about this:
How about stocking a heavy supply of Gambusia minnows in the Spring, follow with 3-5" Crappie in the Winter (speaking from our southern months), then adding HSB or LMB the following Spring. Or if the pond is really ready now go ahead with the minnows and 3-5" crappie now. The minnows could control mosquito populations while bearing live every 28 days or so through the summer. When the Crappie are introduced, a food base will already be established with the minnows (also a bug light would not hurt). Then the bass could also feed on the minnows, but as they age they would dispose of the crappie offspring the following year. It seems the offspring might be a bit more like a Burger King Whopper versus a Krystal Burger (minnows) once the bass get a good size on them. For this example we could leave the BG out of the equation! Just a thought!
Bear in mind I am drawing my hypothesis off the thoughts of an experiment we did with Ken's Hi-Tech Speck (hybrid crappie). Bass were not in that exact equation, but Ken placed a number (don't have pond size or fish amount in front of me since I am at home) of hybrid crappie in an experimental pond for one year. He continuously added minnows (about 5K per month) and was able to grow them from 2" to 14" in one year. Good looking crappie for a one year project.
I do not know of any customers who have tried the exact experiment that Ken did, but we have had a lot who grew the hybrids 8� plus in the first year in combination ponds (BG, LMB �). These customers ALWAYS stocked with minnows in the beginning (some added more later), and most used the Bug Light we sell to supplement feeding. In fact, we are currently working on a way for the bug light to trigger a quick feed burst from a bank feeder to fool the crappie into hitting pellet feed.
Our hybrid crappie is not the hybrid black that others advertise. This fish is actually very attractive (and highly aggressive). A mature adult displays the white belly, graying center with some stripes, and a prominent black stripe down its back. We are only 5 years into dealing with this fish, but customer response has all been positive. Unfortunately most of our customers do not do the heavy documentation and record keeping that is displayed by the pros here. The largest we have grown out was just less than 5 lbs in a three year period (again with a heavy minnow supply and low to no other predators).
Depending on what results you are looking for in a pond, stocking ratios should be relevant to your cause. In a standard stock I generally do not suggest over 60 specks to the acre (in a pond over 2 acres). BUT if large crappie are your goal then you can raise these numbers accordingly as long as you raise your forage base. I think a high forage base is the real key.
Personally, and this is just my opinion, too many people get caught up in trying to have one pond with a variety of monster fish. They throw everything into the pot and expect to make world records. If you were to do a small crappie pond I would stay away from the BG and LMB. Stick with the crappie, minnows (lots of them), and bass. Besides you could always cull out any GG offspring that escape the HSB (from the TGG pond) and toss them in for the larger crappie. Again this is just my opinion!!!
edit: reading back over the post I noticed the size of the pond in question. It would not be economically feasable to have minnows as the only forage. Enter the bluegill, but not GG's. Their mouth size might compete with the crappie.
edit #2: I just read the profile of the new member. Just how many Texas engineers are on this forum, and exactly what are you all up to (engineering wise)?
