DD,
I grew up in my young adult environment being encouraged(actually very strongly encouraged) to challenge traditional thinking in order to achieve new, positive things....yes, I've been burned some, but have learned a few things in the process and maybe, hopefully, have aided a couple of people in also learning something along the way.
Thanks to Robinson for pointing out Bob's post again...I hadn't noticed the bird rationale before that. However, I would question (ok DD there I go again) that bird predation in muddy, 4 feet deep and increasing by inches daily water will suffer bird predation that would even come close to offsetting the benefits of having a good population of spawning ready BG in the spring. Water turkeys do not like muddy pond water...herons probably don't care much but they just aren't a big factor in my area. Eddie is a 24/7 owner and knows how to handle unwanted predators...I've seen his pictures.
I'm guessing that most of us would agree that Eddie needs to address the possibility of unwanted fish from the creek, if he hasn't already. That is potentially a far more significant item than the discussion about the relative merits of fall/winter stocking of BG as a forage fish.
