One other note, my main goal is just to get our lake to a point where we can consistently catch 3 lbs each outing with us catching the occasional 7+ lbs fish every few outings. This may not be a trophy fishery in your book, but I think is something that I think is a reasonable expectation. I think we're close, but this little bit more of management could put us over the top! I want belly saggers!

Option A : You will never be able to cast net 170 pounds of Tilapia from that initial 30 pound stocking before the fall/winter die off....but every pair you get will spawn every 30 days until water temps hit about 60 deg. What I was suggesting was an economical, practical approach that would help your 17 acre pond some, incrementally...don't expect spectacular results, but it is a multiplier effect. Every spawning Tilapia will produce offspring and each one helps some regarding the bluegill population. This option is really aimed at leveraging...leveraging the Tilapia and leveraging on the bluegill to increase their numbers.

I didn't suggest option A thinking it would cure all weed problems in the 17 acre pond, if there are any. No, I was trying to come up with an economical approach to incrementally increase your forage, i.e. the existing population of bluegills, in an economical manner....because I thought that was your primary concern.

Option B: Make no mistake, I consider this a risky proposition. I have tried several times (slow learner LOL) myself to establish threadfins in smaller ponds...never with success...and these ponds are considerably south of you and have generally 15 inch visibility. I have had a limited success with gizzard shad but did this myself without expending any money.

No question in my mind that your lack of any apparent bloom can potentially be problematic to the establishment of the threadfins. It is a risk. The risk can be mitigated somewhat with fertilization...but that also has inherent risks.

However, perhaps the most far reaching risk is getting one (or exponentially worse one of each sex) flat head or blue cat or gar in that mix. Flat heads are absolutely the top of the food chain in small waters and will totally out compete bass and in cases can actually eliminate all other species. Blue cats are almost as bad, but not the predator that flat heads are...and of course gar can be a big problem. Because of the difficulty eliminating any of these and the potential impact which at the extreme could be starting all over again, it is absolutely mandatory that your supplier provide ZERO of those three predators. A few carp you can deal with, greenies or most others can be dealt with also and don't have the potential for damage.

I'm somewhat of a risk taker myself when it comes to my ponds...but I try to mitigate the risks as much as possible.

Again, let me repeat that RW of 1.16 is good...and believe me better can be the enemy of good.

In considering your goals, let me add another consideration...fishing pressure. Fishing pressure needs to be managed carefully, especially in the 3 acre pond. LMB learn quickly what those artificial lures do to their friends. Floridas especially are very fast learners. You can do everything right, spend a fortune, and have a pond full of big bass that you can't catch on artificials. My goal is to raise good fish you can catch on flys and lures. To do that requires careful management of fishing pressure.

Just a couple of other comments...

Option A: I definitely wasn't suggesting that we would catch 170 lbs but I was curious if it would be tough to even catch 30 lbs over a few months. I've never dealt with Tilapia, so I'm just not sure how easy they are to catch.

Both lakes have issues with water clarity but it is definitely more apparent in the 3 ac because of the lack of depth. That said, we might be able to make the numbers all work out in the budget if we're not having to spend money on the small lake to get rid of weeds.

Option B: I would agree with you about the cats/trash fish. I'm glad to be made aware so we can double check with our supplier.

While shad would be a great option, because of our water fertility issues, maybe they are not the best option. This will gives me some great material to discuss with our biologist/supplier about, so we can close in on making the best decision.

In regards to pressure, I'm not as concerned with the smaller lake as the larger lake. The smaller lake may have a few full Floridas, but we started off stocking it with the Hybrid LMB (Florida-Texas cross). The larger lake was originally stocked with Floridas, but like I have previously mentioned, I have observed other fish getting into that lake, some of which are Texas bass (as I caught them before it was stocked). That has it's obvious advantages/disadvantages. However, long term, you are correct, the fish over time will probably get more sensitive to the pressure. All in all, I like the direction we're going and this analysis offers me some realistic options to consider. I'll keep you posted on what happens!