Originally Posted by Quarter Acre
Welcome to PB! Get back to the forums with the sizes as Theo suggests...

I strongly suggest that you only put FHM's in this year with plenty of pallets (or structure for laying eggs - your choice, but submerged pallets work really well). You WILL be amazed at what one year of FHM reproduction will do for next year's stocked game fish growth. This type of patience is not for everyone, but the benefits your pond will receive from this approach will be great. I cannot comment on the GS (GSD = gizzard shad) with this approach as I have no experience with them. Some have said that they can get too big in a smaller BOW and become bait stealers, however. If BOW's in your area have abundant snail populations, you might bump up the RES number to 200 to 250. AS far as the crayfish goes, I would consider adding them the year after the gamefish go in AND 60 pounds sounds like ALOT. Crayfish reproduce once in the spring and it does not take that many to make many more. I added too many craws to my pond with the FHM's which gave them 2 years before the stocked fish were big enough to control their population. My pond is void of submerged plant life and stays muddy all the time. I trapped out about 2000, 3 to 5" crawdads last year and that was not enough. This was year 4 for my pond. Don't get me wrong, I love them in the pond, but too many is too many. I would suggest that you line about 10 to 30% of the bank with 2-6" rock from the waterline down to the 18" water depth to give the craws a good haven. Without that, they will become expensive food for the CC and LMB.

Aside from that, your numbers look good to my novice eyes.

Great call on the pallets! Do you stack them, or just do one?

I'm reluctant to do the Shiners, just because of how big they can get (10" I've read). And they're not cheap. I was actually thinking if bumping up the RES numbers wouldn't make more sense, so glad to hear you say that! Also great info on the crayfish, I wasn't sure the rate of reproduction. Sounds like I could end up with a ton @ 60 lbs. Thanks for all the info!