Go as big as your budget/property allows. The bigger the pond the less troubles so long as you have the watershed to keep it full (or well). Make sure you look in to how much watershed (or well water capacity) you have before getting to far along with the build.

My first attempt (about 4 years ago) at making my 1/4 acre pond a pleasant fishery utilized the HBG and the HSB (with the token RES population for snail/parasite control started off very well. The fingerling HBG grew to 1/2 pound in two seasons and the HSB tended to gain a pound a year. My problem (hindsight and all) was that I have too much watershed and I believe my HBG washed out for the most part in the first season. This left me with very few easy-to-catch fish whereas the HSB were next to impossible to get on a hook. When I did...it was amazing. I should have been more regimented with ladder stocking my fish. I have since added CC and straight BG. The CC are easy to catch and grow fast (with feed) and the BG should help them with forage. I expect the BG to get overpopulated and stunt, but the BG will always be fun for the kids. I plan to add HSB yearly to keep them in the pond. I believe mine got to be 4 to 5 pounds but are mostly hidden or have died off.

If I had it to do over again...I would add FHM's (with spawning structure) and give them a full season to grossly populate the pond. I did this in my first attempt and it was spectacular in how many they made in one season and how well the fish grew on them as forage. The second year, I would add HBG (X 300), BG (X 200), CC (X 20), and HSB (X20) as fingerlings (for my 1/4 acre pond). This allows the new game fish to feed mostly on the YOY FHM's and gives the pond a second season of adult FHM's before their inevitable decline. I would hope that the BG would somewhat take the place of the declining FHM population. The following years all depend on how many fish you take for the table and how many you think are left. The latter part is were I struggled. I cannot tell you how many times I wanted to drain the pond and count the remainders. Obviously, this is not practical, but I just didn't know what I had. It's a guessing game on ladder stocking for me, but adding 10 of the CC and 10 HSB for each of the following years seems about right for my pond (I guess!). These ladder stocked fish will need to be much larger so that they are not eaten by the existing grown CC & HSB.

I will not put the LMB in my pond, but never say never. Too many stocked ponds that I have fished have overpopulated with them and, even though it's fun catching one-after-another...it gets boring without the hopes of a lunker.

Your area may/will require some consideration with regards to using the HSB (they don't care much for being caught when the water is warm, like 80+ degrees F) and BG (copernose may be a better choice as I think they are more of a southern breed). If HSB don't fit your desires, I'd replace their numbers with CC.

Fish on!,
Noel