Nice write up! I enjoyed your style.

Two quick suggestions that I don't think you mentioned in your postings...

One, check out Harrison's Fishery in Hurdland, Mo. The can't be too far from you and that's is where I got my HBG, RES, and HSB. It was a good experience.

And, two, put some pallets in your pond when the FHMs go in for spawning purposes. If your pond is still filling up, you can build the pallet stacks before the water hits full pool, you just have to guess/know where full pool will be. Otherwise, I would consider strapping thee together at a time and floating them in the pond, anchored to the shore so they do not travel around. Here is a link to what I did with the pallets...


http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=458150&page=2


Fish on!,
Noel