Private Farm Ponds - Pond Boss Forum

I would like to start off by saying I was given these ponds and did not initially put the fish in them.
I have three ponds
First- 2 acre pond tiny 6" crappie... Caught about 57 in 2 hours. It has a little vegetation but not a whole lot. I have fished it for about 3 years and nothing but crappie and the occasional bluegill. A neighbor said he put some catfish in it but I have not saw them.
Second- 1 acre pond... Nothing but crappie... literally nothing but crappie. Lots of weeds and vegetation and cover.
Third- Same situation as 2 a little smaller but the crappie are fat but not getting longer.
GOALS- I wan't to catch nice LMB. And also a far out there though would I would like to maybe try NP unless completely advised against. I realize maybe the NP pond and the LMB pond might not be able to be the same pond.
Any ideas or crazy things to try that maybe someone hasn't wanted to try throw them in
also I have had a one acre pond where I can catch some 6 lb. LMB that are about 15" i would like to get atleast one of these ponds to that mark.

Can you drain them and start over? As you've noticed, crappie are a big problem.

It would be faster and more effective to rent a trash pump, empty them, and spread hydrated lime (cheap) to kill them all off.

Agree. Time to start over.

Just crazy ideas... I'd put 3-4 pike or musky per acre in one and see what happens.

Along the same lines, stock 10-20 blue cats and let them diminish the crappie population.

Essentially I'd attempt making lemonade out of lemons in at least one of the ponds.

Originally Posted By: NEDOC

Just crazy ideas... I'd put 3-4 pike or musky per acre in one and see what happens.

Along the same lines, stock 10-20 blue cats and let them diminish the crappie population.

Essentially I'd attempt making lemonade out of lemons in at least one of the ponds.

+1 I like this idea. I always thought it would be cool to have a pond with pike. It would be interesting to see how fast a few could clean up that 1 acre. I don't know how fast they grow so I can't recommend a stocking rate but I would stock heavy and make it a put and take activity. Once they pretty much eliminate everything in the pond, I would invite them up to the house for a fish fry!

NP are nummies

Could I drain with a portable sump pump? Is that possible... I have a lake we own with pike in it. How do I transport them it is over an hour away? Anything besides pike and pumping... any other crazy ideas... I might drain one. Pike one up... What should I try on the third one??? Open to anything. And with the draining they are cattle ponds not sure if the chemicals or powder would affect cattle? Anyone know about that?

Originally Posted By: FlyFisher11

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Any ideas or crazy things to try that maybe someone hasn't wanted to try throw them in
also I have had a one acre pond where I can catch some 6 lb. LMB that are about 15" i would like to get atleast one of these ponds to that mark.

umm, what????? a 15" bass that weighed 6lbs? That is simply not possible even if Cecil was growing them...........that said, crappie are the devil......kill them all. I'm going through that now in my pond. The local yocals seemed to have bucket stocked my pond with crappie and now I need to drive around on my 4 wheeler with a shotgun to persuade them not to trespass.

Originally Posted By: NEDOC

Just crazy ideas... I'd put 3-4 pike or musky per acre in one and see what happens.

Along the same lines, stock 10-20 blue cats and let them diminish the crappie population.

Essentially I'd attempt making lemonade out of lemons in at least one of the ponds.

Tiger musky. Quick growing, more tolerant of heat than NP. I don't think they reproduce, either, so don't stunt. TM did great in a 22 acre Ohio pond I used to fish.

Biggest (relative weight wise) LMB in my pond has been a 18.5" 6 pound one.

Hi Flyfisher and welcome to the forum fellow Husker! Feel free to pm me if you'd like to chat I'm happy to help in any manner possible. Have some ideas for you and help many guys manage their fisheries in NE.

Tj

Are you located in an area where you could do something good with the crappie, in whole or in part? Soup kitchen, donation center, etc.? I don't know how small - can you get any meat from them? If so you could drain water down quite a bit, seine the crappie and donate them for a good cause. Even a fishing derby for kids?

Aside from a good cause donation / derby, if you have the ability do consider stocking a small pond with a predator that will enjoy dining on the stunted crappie, be it catfish, bass, musky or pike. Take a 1 acre stunted crappie pond and drop in 10 LMB and watch them GROW.

Originally Posted By: teehjaeh57

Hi Flyfisher and welcome to the forum fellow Husker! Feel free to pm me if you'd like to chat I'm happy to help in any manner possible. Have some ideas for you and help many guys manage their fisheries in NE.

Tj

Call this guy! TJ is a real Nebraska pond expert. Best thing you could do.

I'd go with NP in one pond, muskie in another, if they're legal in NE, and LMB in the third, probably the smaller pond. You could put CC in with any of those. Stock LMB that are large enough not to be eaten by the crappie. You could consider SMB and CP as an alternative to the LMB, or to either of the larger pike, but you probably can't get CP. SMB coexist in WI lakes with NP and muskies, but I don't just how compatible they are. Don't know about HSB or other predators. While I was waiting for the new additions to grow big and fat, I'd practice fly fishing on the little crappies. They'd be fun on a 3 wt rod.

If you're not killing the ponds off completely I'd find a way to get those crappie to enter the food chain on the bottom end, rather than having them control the top end of the food chain like they are now. Stocking apex predators as described above isn't the only way to do that.

Welcome, Flyfisher11!

I feel your pain! My pond is two acres and I've culled over 3000 in 3 years. Cleaned them all, of all sizes and treated many friends and family to some good fish fry's!

Some days we could catch 100 or more! This tub I keep in the pond to collect the BCP and LMB I want out, then introduce them to the filet knife and frier!

Although there's still some Crappie in the pond, I believe my predators (LMB and HSB), many now at the 4-6 lb range are preventing or at least should control any "boom" spawn by the BCP should there be one. My biggest concern is the impact they can/will/do have on my YOY BG.

I continue to catch and remove them but it's not the BCP infested pond it used to be.

If I had my choice and it were my pond (I'm leasing), I would have started completely over to achieve a goal of what I wanted for the pond. Much easier, less stressful and more fun to manage that way!

BTW, I really like the idea of NP going to town on the Crappie! Talk about cleaning house!

PS - I agree on reaching out to TJ, he knows what he's doing and eager to help! And what part of Nebraska are you in?

Keith, what size are the crappie that you are catching now, compared to the size of the crappie that you were catching when you started?

Originally Posted By: esshup

Keith, what size are the crappie that you are catching now, compared to the size of the crappie that you were catching when you started?

Scott, when I first moved here in 2012 I was catching these, and an abundant amount of very stunted bass, none over 12":

And since the pond renovation in '12 -'13 of eliminating FA, CT and DW, they've all been around 6-8", and still are (and quite thin). Which is somewhat surprising as I would figure the remaining Crappie that are too big for the predators would be growing.

Not so much, apparently!

My guess would be rotenone. It won't hurt cattle, gets rid of the problem fish, and will allow you to start restocking in a few weeks. Removing the dead fish will be a lot of work though.

Thanks for the kind words, fellas!

Flyfisher - you can reach me at 402.730.4897 or tj@hudlandmgmt.com anytime you want to chat. Lots of options, can help walk you through them.

Originally Posted By: Lovnlivin

Originally Posted By: esshup

Keith, what size are the crappie that you are catching now, compared to the size of the crappie that you were catching when you started?

Scott, when I first moved here in 2012 I was catching these, and an abundant amount of very stunted bass, none over 12":

And since the pond renovation in '12 -'13 of eliminating FA, CT and DW, they've all been around 6-8", and still are (and quite thin). Which is somewhat surprising as I would figure the remaining Crappie that are too big for the predators would be growing.

Not so much, apparently!

Damn nice Crappie! I would think back on conventional.

Keith have you ever considered filleting those smaller crappie and start feeding your LMB from the dock? I have some first hand evidence your fish will grow very large very fast and feeding them is an absolute blast. Bruce and Yolk taught me the ropes - I now do this with BG fillets for my SMB and HSB. Call me for a crash course. Great way to re-purpose the bounty of your pond and you can shoot some really cool videos to share and I'll bet you could have some LMB shoot over 130 WR in no time.

What TJ said!!! It's time consuming but it's a project I'm attempting with carp removal in my pond.

That does sound like fun! As of late, catching them has been few and far between but I have no doubt there's still many in there. And as much as my LMB's are my babies and there are many laying-in-wait under the dock, ready to ambush the BG during feeding times, them Crappies sure are good eatin'

, and have supplied many a good fish fry with family and friends. And I've gotten pretty good at filleting them at any size.

I caught this one on March 25th, close to my pond record at 4.97 pounds, and at 19" it comes in at 132% WR (although it may be pre-spawn). But to accelerate their growth even more, I'm all over that one!

With that being said and as NEDOC eluded to, I would love nothing more than to feed them the GC that I have a goal of removing this year, if I can catch them. I saw one 2 years ago that had to exceed 10-15 lbs and I stocked 8 of them in 2012. And with my pond now void of any vegetation, they have to be hungry!

So, TJ I may be calling you for that recipe/method if GC is a viable option to the BCP or LMB that I'm removing/cleaning/eating.

I would guess that a pretty big GC or two would offer a good supply of food for my LMB?

Thanks guys!

That's a great LMB there Keith, well done. I would imagine the GC are keeping pond somewhat turbid with lack of forage?

I would guess that LMB would be happy to eat fillets from any species - tilapia, crappie, bg, gc - just have to get them trained first. Dangling strips of fillets off the dock with just an overhand knot on the line is the way I started once they were close to dock eating hydrated pellets. Might need to start with live BG to get them eating under the dock, then switch to fillets same presentation. Didn't take long for them to clue into the fillets, now I can just throw chunks during feeding time and they are on it.

Thanks, TJ and yes, very turbid and the GC is the only thing I can attribute that too.

But if there's a good side to that (turbid water), it may be one reason why I've had no FA over the past couple years? Lack of penetrating sunlight? My clarity is 12" or less at best. Although it's done nothing for the Blue Green Algae which was really bad last year.

Regarding the LMB, they already hang around (and under) the dock area, picking off BG during feeding time as I have 2 feed rings tied to the dock to keep the feed from drifting on windy days. Which is so cool because it's such a violent strike it splashes food right back up on the dock. And if you're not expecting it, or it's very early in the morning and you're not quite awake yet, it can scare the bajeebers outta ya!

Regarding the GC, last year on our trip our guide on Lake Okeechobee was the self-proclaimed "Bass Whisperer". I wonder if Nebraska has a Carp Whisperer

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It's my goal to remove them this year so I'll be trying all the suggested ideas I've seen here on the forum!

GC removal is beyond my expertise, but I've been told the only reliable method is via angling [if they like pellets] or a bow or electroshocking.

Flyfisher11, please think twice about adding BCP to your pond!

Today caught 35 in an hour and a half. I'm beginning to think it's impossible to even thin them out!

The crazy thing about it was I threw a Panfish Assassin right in the middle of my deep water diffuser with almost a strike every time. Off to one side or the other, nothing. Right in the middle of the diffuser,,, Bam!

Fun stuff though and great eats!

Geeze, I know those stinking BCP are in my pond somewhere, and there is a massive one building a nest right next to the dock, but I would be happy if I could catch that many fish in such a short period of time! I cannot catch squat.

I think us northerners don't have as ideal conditions for BCP as further to the south. In fact I see no YOY in my pond, but older size classes only. Last year was strange.

I've never seen any fry or fingerlings in my pond. Not last year or this year. I have nesting beds galore, and I've been seeing fish (maybe all BG) spawing for a couple weeks. Until about the beginning of last winter, I was catching a fair number of crappie, mostly, but maybe not entirely, WCP. I'm wondering when the crappie explosion is going to occur. I'd like to catch a lot more.