What are best reproducing forage fish (not sport fish) to introduce for the benefit of SMB?
So along this theme what may represent optimum? I know some members have had good success with GSH but what are your thoughts about whether it they are an optimal forage? But do they get too large, for example, to be optimal? Snipe has introduced RSH and BNM and has observed reproduction in a pond already stocked with fish. Many ponds can also sustain populations of Gams. Are they large enough to represent optimal forage? Can a combination of these smaller minnows contribute as much usable forage as can GSH?
When I see SMB, the first forage item that comes to mind is crayfish. They do have their risks, though. GSH are good, but you need to make sure the shiners don't outgrow the smaller mouth gape of the SMB (See Shorty's thread on here titled "On the fly tonight" where he's removed 250+ 5.5-8" GSH from his 1/4 acre SMB pond).
