Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose stocking crappie

Kris-
I'm no expert, but one reason why I haven't had any advice for you is because I've never stocked crappie in a small pond before. I honestly wouldn't have any idea how many per acre to stock. Since they are technically a predator, I'm guessing you'd want a # per acre more in-line with, say, LMB than forage fish. Given their unpredictable spawning, it is also hard to say how many would be too much or too little in the beginning. You could have a huge spawn and have a lot of fishing to do in a very short time, or possibly have no spawn at all.

I'm guessing that because of their overall unpredictability in small waters, it is hard for anyone to give you a definitive answer on stocking rates.

I think you are right about managing your pond. If you were to fish it on a regular basis, you could manage a small pond for crappie without problems. Management would also depend what other types of predators you have, what your goals are wrt size and numbers of crappie, and what type and numbers of forage base you have. If you're willing to make it work, then it should work. I would work backwards, based on your goals, and then guess at how many and what size crappie you think your pond can sustain as stockers.

Maybe you can become the expert on this subject and teach us what type of stocking rates worked best for you. I honestly would be very curious to know what you find. Our next pond will be a HSB/Crappie pond, and we'll be experimenting with stocking numbers just like you. I'll also be curious how your white and black crappie do together and what types of numbers you end up with.

Edit: As usual, Theo said most of what I was thinking and did it better...