Thanks Bruce and Bobad! Appreciate the welcome, I really do. \:\)

Bruce, I believe catching 10-12" crappies is very fun and that's what I consider eating size. It doesn't take many crappie to feed a couple people so we'd probably only take out a half dozen at any one time and would probably not eat them more than once a week and only in the spring and fall. I prefer to heat up my crappie in a pan, not take them out of a pond in 110 degree weather. The rest of the time would be C&R and catching a 2 pound crappie once a year would be a blast but not a necessity. Largest I ever caught was 1.5 pounds when I was stationed in Virginia 20 years ago and I remember it to this day. I'd like my wife to catch one just once in her lifetime and catching it out of her own pond instead of Sam Rayburn would be nice.

I don't want the HSB to spawn, just control the pond from stunting. I don't know the amount of FHM, crappie or HSB to put in but I figured Mr. Overton can earn his pay that way! LOL Of course, any suggestion from folks here would all be taken into account because I've gleaned most of my limited knowledge from the amazing posters here and from a couple outside sources.

Bobad, I read about the shrimp in some of the other threads, as well as the zooplankton "balls" in the black crappie. So I guess I need to figure out what plants create a large zooplankton pop. and what plants grass shrimp like to hang on to. Does Louisiana have a good source for grass shrimp? Most importantly, are Acadian Grass Shrimp better than Texas Grass Shrimp? \:D My Aunt, Uncle and several cousins have lived in New Iberia for 25 plus years and maybe I can have one of them capture me a couple. ;\) Do they taste good in a crawfish boil? If so, maybe I won't give them to the crappie, they can go find their own!

Thanks clarifying (pun intended) the turbid water problem. I wasn't exactly sure about that process. I read somewhere that gypsum controls the clay particulate? Or is it best to just let it settle and wait for plants to start growing? I see that people "fertilize" to initiate plant growth?????

I have a buddy with a 3 acre bass pond and it's crystal clear 8 feet down, I'm assuming because it's loaded with plants? The summertime moss is crazy though!!! I wanted to throw some of that chemical in spots all around so there wasn't so many hiding places for the fry because the bass are all extremely stunted. Fun to catch 100 bass in 2 hours but they're all a half pound or less. The 8 pounder lurks around the end of the pier and watches the little idiots get caught! haha!

Where would I find gambusia and what do I need for and where can I find grass shrimp?

Thanks again for the welcome and the info guys, Gunny