I haven't put up pictures yet, sorry. Hopefully soon.

Standpipe in this past Friday morning. Sat morning have approx 1/2 acre of water 2 to 3' deep, couldn't help myself, made 2 trips to hatchery, put in 200 RES, 200 BG, 12 lbs FHM. As of last night have about 1 1/2 acre of water 2' to 4'deep, had a hard 1/2" rain this a.m., 180 ac watershed, primarily brome pasture, fed by limestone bed creek. Water has a mild bloom BG and FHM are actively feeding.

I want a well balanced, diverse,pond. 6" to 8" SMB go in this fall at approx 75 per acre (6 acre pond). I realize BG are difficult to control with SMB, so I'm thinking of more of a 50/50 mix of RES and BG at 400 per acre, as well as buying a couple boxes of those flying golden shiners advertised on the site.

One of hatcheries I spoke to advised against the GSH, saying they would overpopulate and grow too large for SMB to consume. From the looks of the SMB that Sunil posted last week, seems that GSH make pretty good feed.

I wouldn't be surprised if sometime in the next 3 to 4 years HSB, CC, and crappie don't show up in the mix

This pond, if it holds water, will have very diverse bottom structure, mostly in the form of rocks, boulders, channels and humps.

What do you think of my bluegill strategy. Will the GS overpopulate? Will the SMB have enough forage? Will I ever overcome this obsession of visiting the pond twice a day to move that little flag to the new water line?

I believe after a few years, when the pond has matured some, the BG/RES ratio will have reached a "steady state" (if anything in a pond can be called that giving constant, fast or slow changes over time) value (much?) higher than 50/50. You can add more or different predators to help control BG if need be. That said, I'd rather start with more Redears than fewer.

Remind me, are you placing SMB spawning structure?

I think GSH have great potential as a long term forage for SMB. Some of them will get too large for SMB to eat (unless you grow REALLY nice Smallies), but I don't feel they are so prolific as to overwhelm the fishery the way Gizzard Shad can do (9" GSH is big, but it's no 2 pound shad). With the "protected" big GSH spawning, you may end up with a nice size assortment of SMB food up to the biggest size they can handle.

I think GS will do fine. I note that in a recent set of articles in PB by Doc Cornwell on northern ponds the idea was to not use BG and LMB and instead use SMB , FH and GS. I think that is good enough proof to me that it will work. Plus the GS will help eat some BG eggs and fry. What about YP ?

The BG strategy may work but they reproduce a lot and you will still have to watch the balance. Will the RES grow and overwinter (they don't do as well as BG with cold temps)? They seem to do ok at Bruce's in Neb.

Assuming you keep getting water and the pond fills you may want to go ahead and add the GS and be ready to add more FH when you stock the SMB. 450 advanced (6-8in) SMB fingerlings is a lot with only the forage you have now. Those 2in BG and RES will not spawn this year so they will need to survive until next year to be of any help. I would not put in all those BG (400 per acre). I would use more RES , FH and GS and a few YP and only put 100 BG per acre. Are you going to feed? If you want HSB then get them from Bruce and put them in when you put in the SMB and use the same size. I bet you will need that second predator. If so then maybe go to 150 BG per acre. Do you have good spawning structure for SMB nesting? Lets see what others say wrt BG #s.

Will I ever overcome this obsession of visiting the pond twice a day to move that little flag to the new water line? - Not until the pond fills and then you will be watching fish and water quality as well as water levels. There is no end to the obsession.

Ok, I corrected my GSH acronym, geez what a rookie.

Theo, yep, lots of spawning structure, rocky shelves at 4' to 5' with boulders set on top, about a 1/2 acre rock flat at about 4', with individual stones up to 8'x4'x4', did I say I hope it holds water...

Diversity of structure is one of the reasons I'm holding off on the CC for the time being, they will find a nook and cranny to spawn.

After reading some more posts on GSH, If I have 2 acres of water this afternoon I'm going to order some flying GSH.

Eric, think I'm a little far south for YP. The RES do well around here, we're a good 3 hours south of picturesque Denton, NE. The initial stocking was to suit the water I had available, plan is to continue adding BG and FHM as water becomes available.

So hopefully when I add SMB, this fall, all they have to do is open their mouths...

Next week is the last week that Anderson will ship the GSH fry. They advertise approximately 250,000 fry per box, that will grow 1 to 1 1/2" within 30 days. With no predators in my pond, I'm hoping for a high survival rate. Hopefully they haven't outgrown the mouth of a 6 to 8" SMB by September. If they do, I'll have a heck of a spawning population of GSH next spring.

With that many you will need those BG and RES to eat some also. Good luck it sounds like a good plan.