Given an overabundance of small prey fish, how long does it take for 4-5" SMB to grow 18" long? I only added 10 SMB to a 1 acre pond full of small fish from a stocking of 50 GSH, 25 YP, 25 RES, and 5 lbs of FHM a couple years earlier. I see a great many 1-3" fry in the pond. Also, I was planning to wait until 2018 to start fishing. Is there any reason to start earlier? This spring I caught FHM and small YP and GSH in a minnow trap.
I can tell you the answer if you can tell me how many pounds of forage you have in the pond for them to eat. Those 10 SMB will have to eat roughly 350 - 400 pounds of fish to grow to 18".
I would fish it for the SMB once a month next year, weigh and measure the SMB when caught and track their growth. That way you know whether to add more forage or not. If there is spawning habitat in the pond for them, once they spawn the offspring will consume part of the forage base too.
