Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations managing for crappie

Hey guys, it's been a while since I have posted but trust me I have been reading all I can. I have a 2 acre pond that is 15 years old and has fhm,gambusia,cc,lmb,crappie (white and black),hybrid bluegill, gsf and I think cnb. At first I thought I wanted huge bass but I have decided I really want a great crappie pond with good sized crappie but also a lot of them. I know this is possible because a friend of mine has a 1 acre pond with what seem to me as huge black crappie and you can catch them all day. They are very thick and I want mine to be that way. I have tons of LMB that are around the 10-13 inch range. I know they are overpopulated and are stunting. Granted they look very healthy but, there are just so many. I am starting to keep records of my catches on all fish so I will update you on that later. Now for the crappie, I believe that there were no crappie in this pond until 2 years ago when I added around 150 adults full of eggs and some males of course. My problem is I know I acted prematurely as I was adding white and black crappie instead of 1 or the other. I am not sure if this was bad but, my friends seem to be all black and very nice. Since the bass population is so large do I need to worry about the crappie overpopulating and stunting and when should I start keeping them. I know there doing ok because I caught quite a few this spring but, I released all of them. I guess i would just like a bit more info on managing a crappie pond that is already populated with so many other species of fish and has been for years. I have looked all over pond boss and I can't really find much on this. I would also like ideas on what to keep adding for forage and structure so I can find them when I go ice fishing. I am also interested in there spawning habits and where they like to nest. I know this is a lot to answer but, I value your opinions so please give plenty. Thank you, John

John,

I'm far from an expert on this. But, my little half-acre pond has black, white, and hybrid black-white crappie.

I primarily manage my pond for big bluegill, so I have an overpopulation of hungry bass. Up to two years ago, I was over-run with huge channel catfish. The catfish are now also under control, with less than about 35 total, and almost all are under 24-inches.

With this combination, I seem to accidentally catch 15-25 crappie per year, mostly 12-14 inch.

I fished hard for crappie two and three seasons ago, and taking everyone I caught. I thought I maybe wiped them out, but they came back in small numbers this year -- bigger than ever.

But, I'm not sure it is possible to have a small pond that is dominated by edible size crappie.

Good fishn'
Ken

Try this one from the archives. There is a lot of info here on Crappie in ponds which can be seen through links from this archive thread.

http://www.pondboss.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=92447#Post92447

JohnK,

All I can advise you on at the moment are the species. I don't think you need to worry about white, black, or mixed. There isn't enough difference in the size, growth rate, or reproduction in white and black to make a real significant difference. Any advantages 1 may have over the other is very slight, and probably offset in other ways. Your 2a pond is small enough to control any overpopulation by simply fishing. It's a dirty job, but someone has to do it, right?

Although I'm somewhat of a crappie fan, I'm sorry that's all I can offer for now. My Arkansas black nose crappie are only 8" long, but I'll be reporting back when they grow and spawn.

HEY, tHANKS FOR ALL THE GREAT ADVICE AND EWEST THANKS FOR THAT THREAD. I HAVE BEEN READING ABOUT CRAPPIE FOR THREE DAYS AND I GOT A LOT OF GOOD INFO FROM THOSE PAGES AND PAGES OF KNOWLEDGE. FOR NOW I AM GOING TO KEEP REMOVING 12 INCH BASS AS I CONTINUE TO CATCH THEM DAILY. MY CRAPPIE LOOK GOOD FOR NOW AND I WILL LET YOU KNOW IF I TRY THE HSB THING. THANKS GUYS, JOHN

ok guys, I read all the threads but, I would still like to know when I can or should start keeping my crappie. I caught 1 the other night at 12 1/2 inches. Thanks

John,

As I mentioned above, I'm certainly no expert, especially when it comes to crappie, but . . .

I'm usually glad to catch a crappie in my pond, but they do worry me. We take out every crappie caught in our pond. Most that we catch are between 10 and 14 inches, but the annual quantities are very low. We catch a few fry and fingerlings in traps when we sample. But, for a number of reasons, I'd rather that my pond didn't have any crappie -- unless I knew how to raise them successfully.

As you stated above, you have a friend with a very successful crappie pond. If I had such a friend, and if I really wanted a crappie pond, I think I'd do some serious studying of the friend's pond -- like survey's of everything caught, everything removed, and everything thrown back. I'd look hard at water quality, structure, feeding, etc. What is he doing that the rest of us are not doing?

I guess I'm a skeptic when it comes to crappie in waters less than tens, or hundreds of surface acres. Maybe someone else could pipe in, but I've never seen crappie come up for food, which probably means they are feeding on forage fish.

Over about the last 50 years, I've examined the stomach contents of thousands of fish that I've cleaned. Crappie sure seem to enjoy fish dinners, and it doesn't matter whether they are bass, perch, bluegill, other crappie, small pike, or a lot of other things, like bullfrog polliwogs. They also seem to be very uneven in their breeding success, and because they breed before most other warm water fish, the newly hatched are ready to eat the other types of warm water fry as soon as they hatch.

I believe that there are a lot of us who would love to have a successful crappie pond, but the crappie just don't want to cooperate.

I too would really welcome any advice on raising crappie in small waters (half-acre to 2-5 acres). Please keep us informed of your trials, tribulations, and experiments -- successful, or unsuccessful.

Thanks,
Ken

My crappie story - I have a 2/3 acre pond which I stocked with Crappie before I knew better. They were going to be my primary predator fish to control BG. After I found out the problem with Crappie (over production and stunting) I began removing all small crappie that I could. Each year I remove several hundred 4 inch fish. Last weekend I fished for crappie and caught about 25 fish in the 11 to 15 inch range. Not bad. My crappie are regularly seen eating floating pellets so I know they will. The orginal fish were feed trained before I stocked them. I definitely do not have an overpopulation of BG so I think they've worked quite well for BG control. I just have to control the crappies manually via trapping.