I'm not so sure what option is best. When I stocked the pond I went the way of going heavy on GSH. I had millions and they ate all my young YP fry. I was kind of glad when they thinned out and when the adults seemed to stop making more GSH babies. I figured if the GSH adults eventually died off then I could have a GSH-free pond which was kind the way I wanted to go after learning how a pond full of GSH can upset the balance of other fish reproduction.
Then I thought I either get a forage pond, raise FHM and resupply the pond from time to time, or what my current effort is, continue to support my alternate shiners (SFS) with better spawning conditions and hope they can keep up with the predation of the YP. As my YP population also declined I felt like I was getting close to the point where the SFS might catch up nicely and then really get some solid numbers going. It feels like GSH are able to disrupt the balance more so than other forage. Certainly the FHM would not disrupt the growth of larger fish species by consuming fry. They might be the only safe minnow/forage option.
I think the other factor that tipped me back towards being forage-poor was the bonus few walleye I put in 2 years ago. I never see them but I think they are putting a hurt on the minnows and the smaller YP too. Still trying to trick them into biting on a hook and line although I can't be sure of their numbers. I'm guessing the size class of the small YP in the picture above is the only size class I have (and larger than that size) due to gape size limits on the bonus WE.
