Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations Catfish Crappie pond

The pond is about .7ac somewhat turbid, average depth 6ft max around 10ft. Location is north Mississippi. It is a watershed retention pond to help the delta. It is about 4-5 years old I've owned it for the last 2 years. It has LMB very little maybe just 2 only caught and released one around 12", but have caught YOY. BC caught and ate one 14lb female released another 5lb before I learned about hook shy haven't caught anymore BC. BG some 3-4" but mostly 6"+ but not a lot of BG, and WCP numerous YOY and some 8"+ have kept every WCP so far. There is a pond on the neighbors property that drains into my pond that has at least WCP and BG. My goal for this pond is to grow edible catfish and/or crappie. Here are some of my thoughts and questions. I am in the process of siphon draining with a garden hose until I can seine it. I want to remove everything except the WCP. I am thinking about removing the BC and replacing with CC, because it's my understanding the CC will be less likely to eat my full grown crappie. I want to also stock some BCP and may the best crappie win. I would like both the W/BCP and CC to control each others offspring. I would like both of them to spawn because that's just forage fish I don't have to buy and stock. Would it be wise to establish forage fish such as FHM and GSH I do not want either the W/BCP or CC to eat so much FHM or GSH they don't want to eat YOY W/BCP or CC. I don't want anything to compete with the W/BCP or CC except for themselves. Would the YOY of both be enough to feed everybody or would forage fish be a must? I can buy feed for the CC but don't really want to spend extra money if I don't have to. Should I leave the BG in or will they just compete for resources and take away from predation on YOY W/BCP and CC. I can fish it everyday if needed for management. If either W/BCP or CC stunts will it be like a trophy BG pond with stunted LMB? Sorry for the long read, I think I've covered most everything, thanks.

Based off of waht i know, which isn't much compared to alot of the people on this forum, that pond is too small for growing good crappie.

They will be your predator fish but they will spawn like crazy, almost as much as BG & GSF and I dont think FHM & GSH will be an adequate forage base for such an aggressive fish with a mouth like a bass.They will become overpopulated pretty quick and not have enough to eat, but I'm sure the big hitters will chime in on this one as well. Good luck with the project

You'll end up with some fatter CC, and paper thin crappie. You might have a chance if you drain and get the forage fish established first, but you can't do that if you have Crappie or Catfish in there from the get-go.

So your saying the crappie won't be able to grow on just YOY, they need forage fish? Should I consider BG, or will they compete with the crappie. If I gave the FHM good cover would they survive crappie and CC predation? Would GSH take pressure off crappie from CC? I read somewhere on here that anything over 9" wouldn't sustain off just FHM and needed something bigger, and that's where I was hoping the little CC and crappie would come in. Thanks for the advice.

yes establish the forage fish.

if nyou have the ability to drain the pond , do what you like and once things go aragh drain it and start over. .7 with the ability to drain would be lots of fun!! Fishereries always get out of balance trying to balance out. keep us posted

If the upstream pond has white crappie, your pond will get them again on each overflow. Draining and starting some forage/predators could give you a much better chance at keeping control over the WCP.

As for siphoning with a garden hose...I am pretty sure the inlet side of the hose will collapse once the water is lifted more than a few feet. Try some 3/4" or 1" PVC...2" would work MUCH faster, plus it won't collapse during the eventual high water lift over the dam. Be sure to put a 45*, upward facing elbow on the outlet to prevent air running up the discharge side and killing the siphon action.

I was thinking about putting in some riprap, gravel, screens, and mesh to try and stop fish from the upstream pond getting into mine. The upsream pond is a cattle drinking pond long wide and shallow. I can do some corrective measures to that pond but can't control who fishes it or what they decide to put in it. I thought about putting one or two huge catfish in it to eat everything. The garden hose has been siphoning for about 3 days now still going strong, but I will probably invest in some larger pipe in case I have to drain it alot. I like catfish better than crappie I just thought since I have crappie in there and they are fun to catch and seem to be doing ok why not. So if I concentrate on just catfish I could stay with the BC since I already have some. Forage for them would be FHM, then GSH or BG, any downside to BG or GSH? Maybe GSD down the road once the BC get big enough? Thanks for the input.

I'd think you could grow some big BC. Certainly not a conventional mix, but with a smaller pond like this, pretty easy to drain if wanted or needed for a restart. Sounds like a fun way to get some fish!

Fingerlings and fry from upper ponds will still make it downstream. About the only way to stop any would be to install a fine mesh screen, but it would probably plug up and cause more headaches.

Is there any way to redirect the flow from the other pond away from yours?

Unfortunately no. There is no practical way of achieving this.