.... Not sure what I will stock since my top preference (chain pickerel and pumpkinseed) seems very hard to source. Ideas for something novel are welcome, but only interested in species that will spawn in a pond under 1 acre.
Well that's not an easy task. The pickerel and pumpkinseed are an interesting combination. While some thoughts come to mind the difficulty in sourcing would remain, besides I like the pickerel combination you mention.
Another option might be to forgo a big predator use a much smaller one with various minnow species that are colorful. So minnows like blackstripe topminnows and such. A predator you might research for this would be Lepomis Gulosis. Without a bigger predator they might only top out in the 7" to 8" range but then might grow larger with some fishing pressure. They are interesting fish and look cool too. They are the only fish I am aware of that will eat bullfrog tadpoles. PK shrimp would also be great forage for them. Without a bigger predator, may be there would be too many bull frog adults and snakes though? It might also pair well with pickerel though I just don't know. They like weedy water and can stand low DO better than any other lepomis. They are not reproductively strong, are self limiting, and will not establish high standing weights (probably limited to around 150 lbs/acre. They will not persist in large numbers in the presence of other lepomis or equivalent competitors .... (though in combination with RES might be an acceptable combination but this would be an experiment ... Jim Wetzel mentioned establishing them as top predator with RES and pigmy sunfish). Once reaching 8" their diet is generally dominated by fish and then crayfish. Jim mentioned he had specimens near the state record when BG were introduced by someone. BG destroyed the balance he had achieved.
They are kind of backwater fish that doesn't like the company of other fish. Anyways, something to consider that is an interesting fish.
