Hi all,

When stocking an established pond I know it's generally best to stock larger fish, however if larger fish are not available how dense would you go on stocking of smaller fish? For example, I'd probably get 30-40 adult readear for my pond if I could source them but was thinking of just getting 100 or so 2-3 inch. Surely some would survive to adulthood in a pond with largemouth, right?

What is top and average size of your largemouth?

I would estimate that I have around 5 LMB in the 15-18 inch size and the majority are 8-12 inch. This is a small 1/8 acre pond. I'm also wanting to stock some walleye, but have only been able to find smaller ones. I didn't know if there was a general guideline such as stocking 2x to 3xs as many fish if they're smaller into an established pond.

I have a setup similar to yours.
6-7 LMB, 12-18". 25CC 18"-22".
HBG as forage.

After observing the predator fish for many six packs of expensive beer, my opinion is to stock a sacrificial forage that is easier to catch, such as tilapia.
The tilapia will spawn fast and LMB love them. They will take the pressure off the RES.
They will not survive the winter so no worries about that.
If you do buy tilapia, get smaller ones, since they are more likely to be female.

Clay,

I have a good forage base, there were already BG present and I added another 100 this spring in addition to 3000 GSH and Fhs. I thought of doing some tilapia but I've heard they're pellet hogs and my aquatic weeds and algae situation is under control so I've held off for now.