I have a .5 acre pond stocked last year with 50 LMB, 30 CCats, 200 HBG and have a ton of forage from fatheads. Was informed i need to reduce HBG and add Standard Blues to feed LMB and Cats. I was also told to reduce LMB and Cats to 25 and 15. Will my Standard blues be poorly affected by breeding with Hybrids or am I ok. Also is adding Coppernose any better than Standard Blues. Thanks!

Welcome to PB. No CNBG in Ohio - its to cold for CNBG to do well. Use BG. They will over time supplant the HBG. Try to stock adult BG if you can find them. Probably a good idea to reduce the predators for now.

What are your goals for your half acre pond? Stocking densities of different species varies depending on what you want out of your pond...

Would like big bass, a cat here and there and some bluegill for the kids to catch and eat.

When you say big bass, what is big to you? Keep this in mind... A typical pond on average can support around 100 pounds of largemouth bass. So your half acre pond can support around 50 pounds of bass... That's only 10 5 pound bass. Small ponds are very hard to manage for BIG bass. Even with intensive management you may be able to bump those numbers up a bit... But even under moderate fishing pressure, those few fish will get darn hook shy quick. I am trying not to be pessimistic, but just making sure your goals are realistic.