Perch Pond, I really hope you are successful in getting good numbers of nice sized YP in your pond. My pond is just south of you in NE Missouri. If I had to do it all over again, I’d just have YP, and not much else. We love to catch and eat them. I just can’t keep them going. Every year I have fewer and fewer egg ribbons. And fewer and fewer edible sized YP. Years ago I foolishly thought I was going to have a great YP pond. I kept and ate many. (Probably a few too many females were consumed.)
We don’t catch very many any more, and the ones we catch are pretty small.
I stocked a few HBG, they and my RES have really multiplied. I’m guessing they hurt the YP fry. I’ve got American Pond Weed coming on in the last few years. Maybe that’ll help my YP. I stocked more YP a few years ago. Still trying.