Hoping to get the forum's help creating a stocking plan for a pond in Central Virginia. The pond has been around for 50 years, is about 1/2 an acre, and is starting to fill back up after the old overflow pipe rusted through at the drain pipe and has just been replaced. The property has an existing 3 acre pond with a "classic" mix of LMB, BG, and RES that is doing well, although perhaps getting a little bass heavy, as well as a forage pond with BG and fathead minnows.
My original plan for stocking the 1/2 acre pond was to move a bunch of forage over and let them multiply for a year or so, and then introduce some LMB in the hopes of creating a pond with some nice big bass and enough BG to keep busy when not catching bass. That's still an option, but I am also interested in some other ideas. My existing LMB are northern strain, and the BG are "regular". Should I stock a different strain of bass that grows bigger/faster and some coppernose BG for the same reason? Will those "southern" fish do OK in my region? Should I think about something different like HSB? Any ideas where I can get access to any of those species in my area?
What say you, pond experts? Should I keep things traditional with a LMB/BG/RES mix -- and if so what kind of stocking plan should I go for with the primary goal of growing large bass? Should I go with different genetics than we have in the other pond -- what would that approach look like? Or should I go with HSB (is that even possible in my area?) or other non-traditional species, and what are your tips for that? Or should I do some combination, or something different entirely?
My overall goals are to have fun, which I would define as catching some big LMB and BG and/or catching some new and different species. We fish more for fun than food, so harvesting for food isn't an objective.
Thanks to everybody in advance for thoughts on a stocking plan, potential suppliers for the fish, and any other advice you might have!
