A friend has asked me to put his 10-acre pond on its feet if I can. It has an abundance of 10-12 inch largemouth bass, almost no forage, 1-pound bream, and lots of vegetation. I know that it needs some minnows, but here is the main question: How do I know what to stock without knowing (very well) what is in the pond? I can't electrofish it. Any suggestions or help will be appreciated!

Brandon,
A bass lake has several fundamental needs. Good habitat, clean environment, food, and selective harvest.
Simple.
The complicated part comes when we try to fix something which is broken. You gotta know what's wrong to be able to do what's right.
You need as much data as you can collect about this lake and its fishery. That's why electrofishing is significant. You get a rapid read on the fish.
Is food the issue? Stock the best food source.
But, are the bass overcrowded? You can stock minnows until your billfold is flat, and the fishery won't improve.
Chances are, you need a combination of things to bring the lake back.
Spend time gathering data. Weigh and measure as many bass as you can catch. Compare them to "average" bass. See how they compare. At the same time, verify the sunfish. Are they bluegill? Redear? Green sunfish? Long ear sunfish? Or, the dreaded hybrid sunfish in a bass lake? Once you answer these questions, the next line of questions become easier to solve.
If your fish are in order, the lake may need a boost in productivity. Feeding, fertilizing...two common practices. But, until you know the fishery, and the lake's short comings, I wouldn't spend a nickle.

Thanks for the input!
I am pretty sure the lake has an overabundance of bass. I can catch 10-15 10-inch bass on any given day very quickly. The largest I've ever caught was about 12-14 inches.
I'm not sure what type of sunfish they are, but they are huge!
I've never seen a minnow in this lake.
I appreciate the help.

I agree with every thing Bob said but it sounds like you have a classic case of a bass heavy pond. The least expensive thing you can do is to have it fished often for bass. If all the bass are the sizes you said they all come out, you will never take out to many in that size range.
Next you start spending money, as Bob said fertilize and feed(the bream) for a 10 acre pond budget at least $1500.00 per year.
After that you can stock addition forage fish which with a mature pond can get very expensive.
bottom line if the guy is serious about the pond have a pro shock it.

Brandon Shook,

Do you like Crappie? This might be a good canidate for some Crappie if th pond is truly bass heavy. But you know what entails Crappie, right?, it's making sure their numbers stay in CHECK!!....
Good luck

Bob is right, 3 years ago I bought 12 acre lake. It was full of 12" to 14" bass. First year I put 3000 coppernose, fished hard and took out every thing 14" and under. Second year fished hard and invited everyone to fish and take out the same size, keep or throw on the bank. Its hard to keep pulling out bass, but I pulled out 300 to 400 bass. This last year I put tilapia in and my lake started to produce 3 to six pound bass. I just caught 8.6 pounder 2 weeks ago. I still pull every thing under 14" and always will. It takes time or a lot of money, but can be done.
Thanks, Bob

Thanks; I appreciate the input.
Like one of you mentioned, having a pro stock it would be better but my friend can't afford/doesn't want a pro to do it. Basically, he wants a good bass or crappie lake as cheaply as possible. I assumed it would be easier to make a good bass lake out of it since they are so abundant now.
Thanks again!

Well Brandon thats my point, Big lakes like the one you described, that has lots bass is good canidate for Crappie. It might be easier to do crappie. The rule for crappie is that you MUST harvest them! Alot of them.....

Brandon, I put a sign up at my 2.5 acre pond. It says "DO NOT RETURN ANY BASS OR CRAPPIE, RETURN ALL OTHER FISH". It was a radical action to get control of the over stocked preditors without having to do a fish kill which you may want to consider. It may be better to contact the local game rangers and do a fish kill and start fresh, at least you will know where you stand.

In order to balance a fishery, we need to produce enough food to properly, and consistently, sustain a variety of sizes of game fish. When predator fish are overcrowded, forage fish can't reproduce adequately to maintain, much less grow, predator fish. With good information, you can make good decisions. That's why electrofishing is important. Anything that's randomly done...stocking fish, assuming the bream are bluegill, assuming the entire population of bass is stunted and underweight...is a crap shoot. That means random decisions. The sad thing is you really won't know the impact of these random decisions for a year or two. I would figure out a way to electrofish and get some baseline data. Other than that, cull bass, stock adult bluegill, feed and fertilize. And...keep records of bass caught. Log lengths and weights by dates. Over time, compare data and you will see a change (or not) of the fishery.