Originally Posted by Ken77
Thanks all, really excellent details and appreciate all the knowledgeable input! It has been a couple years but back in 2019 after sharing my management goals on a quality pan fishery of BG, RES, and YP I took away feedback that I should try SMB to ensure YP better odds of survival as the LMB predate even the largest YP. I understand with additional removal of BG through fishing our cast netting it would be a "challenge" but viable. So that has been my plan but have not yet found SMB fingerlings available. Based on the great input from above it seems like I would have to add HSB as well to have a chance of achieving this goal, and it would still be very high maintenance if SMB are less effective at BG control than I thought from previous communication (and I recall at the time there was some experimentation with SMB, so perhaps more "data" has come in since 2019!).

So all that said, I already have a situation that needs rectified as I added 400 mixed BG and RES in 2020 and 100 YP and pond is now in its 3rd summer and spawn season and YP already in the 12-14" range and BG 7-8" but many now in the 2-3" range. It seems I am wasting my time on SMB fingerlings at this point and should switch over to LMB and recognize the YP were probably never going to be super viable in a 1 acre (14 feet deep) pond.

Let me share the Kansas state record perch just came from a 1/2ac (going on 5yr old) pond that was stocked with 3-5" BG and RES, 4-6" YP, 2.5" SMB. Year 2 in went Saugeye in a very low number to help control small BG. Year 3 I stocked a half dozen WAE to be ready to replace a few SAE that I have now taken out, and I stocked 6 HSB at 9".
I regularly catch 12-16" YP, SMB up to right at 17" now and I am constantly culling 8-12" SMB and YP. I have 2 year classes of BG that are 9-11" and some 13" RES. It's very unique, it requires some hands-on, but make no mistake, it can be done.