Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Pond Boss Minnows as bait

Is it generally safe to use minnows as bait in a small 2 acre pond? By safe I mean is there a significant chance that the minnows could get off the hook and start a population?

I cought 2 Crappies in my pond saturday and I want to make sure that there are not any more in there. I'm guessing someone from the neighborhood dumped them in the pond after a fishing trip.

Anyway, I was told the best way to catch crappies is to use minnows but I don't want to use them if there is a chance of introducing another unwanted species into my pond.

Bait minnows often have other species in with then that are less than desirable, as noted by recent forum experiences with sticklebacks and GSF that the PMs involved believe came in with bait. Common carp is another possibility.

If my pond had rough species in it already, I wouldn't worry about it (as) much. As it is, live minnows are verboten here, even for my little brother Sunil (when he finally gets around to visiting).

My limited fishing experience wonders if you can catch every last Crappie even with perfect bait/lures.

I would say that there is a greater than 50% chance that you could have minnows survive in your pond after being used as bait.

For me, I don't worry about it, but my pond is all about diversity.

I was going to be near Theo's homestead for a day or two, and he was not going to be in town, so I just suggested he leave out some live minnows for me. He refused and told me he was not going to tell his wife to NOT shoot first and ask questions later if she saw any strangers around the pond.

In 20 years of fishing this pond I have never cought a crappie. Now all of a sudden we have crappie. I know the chances of catching all the crappie in the pond are slim but I would like to atleast keep them at bay. I was also thinking that if I cought the problem while it is still small I would be able to fix it more easily.

Does anyone else have suggestions for catching crappie? I thought about catching minows from my pond in a minnow trap and using them as bait to negate any risk of introducing unwanted species. The minnows would probably be a mix of LMB and BG.