Hey guys, first post! Read on this site for hours, tons of great info.

Here's my conditions...I live in SE Kansas, and had a pond built early this year. It's a clean runoff only pond, not spring fed, not connected to any other water sources. Depth once full will be 9 to 10 feet, which is where my builder hit bedrock. Currently has around 6 to 7 feet thanks to the drought this summer. Primarily clay bottom, but the top 4 feet or so does have soil spread around the entire shoreline. One very large rock pile approx 12 feet around in about 4 to 5 feet of water on the edge of a drop-off and uses layers of rock up to 6 feet in diameter that are stacked jaggedly. Has another small rock pile approx 6 feet in diameter that uses rocks 1-10", and it's in about 3 feet of water. Two large brush piles using cedar & hedge, in medium depth and separated. Water clarity is approx 12-18" on a good day, but cloudy when it rains. I have not tested the water itself yet.

Early this spring, I stocked 5lbs of FHM, which did spawn. Over the summer, I stocked primarily adult male and female BG, adult RES, and some adult hybrids mixed in (no GSF). The BG/sunfish did spawn as there were thousands of fry. Added approx 200 adult crayfish, which spawned (can see the babies scooting on the bottom). This week, I added 5lbs of 3" GSH, and will be adding more next week, possibly larger size. Pond has a lot of frogs, few snakes, couple small turtles. All in all, signs appear good regarding forage, and I've only seen 1 dead BG and 1 dead crayfish since stocking.

As far as predators...my goal is to have small numbers of large as possible SMB and HSB. I also want the BG/sunfish adults to get large as possible which is why I am stocking predators with smaller mouths and large appetites. The HSB obviously won't spawn, and it seems the SMB will be hit or miss, but all juveniles caught will be removed. All initially stocked SMB and HSB will be adults and will be tagged.

What would you guys suggest as far as all this? What kinds of numbers should I stock of SMB and HSB so I do not add too many? I'd much rather have a few giants than a bunch of average size, and I want to keep my forage appropriate to my predators in order to maintain a healthy balance while giving the predators all they can eat.

Thanks in advance for your help. Look forward to all your replies.