Pond Boss Magazine
https://www.pondboss.com/images/userfiles/image/20130301193901_6_150by50orangewhyshouldsubscribejpeg.jpg
Advertisment
Newest Members
Shotgun01, Dan H, Stipker, LunkerHunt23, Jeanjules
18,451 Registered Users
Forum Statistics
Forums36
Topics40,899
Posts557,051
Members18,451
Most Online3,612
Jan 10th, 2023
Top Posters
esshup 28,407
ewest 21,474
Cecil Baird1 20,043
Bill Cody 15,110
Who's Online Now
2 members (Rainman, Bobbss), 458 guests, and 152 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Thread Like Summary
anthropic, Nathan&Kelly, Pat Williamson
Total Likes: 3
Original Post (Thread Starter)
#518625 03/31/2020 5:50 PM
by SethM
SethM
Years ago (around 2007) I made the mistake of stocking several adult crappie in my 3/4 acre pond. They have done well in the pond and I still catch BCR that are 8-12" long. However, I am afraid that I have ruined my LMB fishery. The LMB that are there are all small and super hard to catch.
Has anyone ever tried to eradicate crappie without draining or the use of Rotenone? I am sure several big fish fries would help the cause, but I was wondering if there are any other options out there for decreasing BCR and trying to regain some LMB numbers?

Fishing in general in the 70 year old farm pond has gotten a lot harder during the last decade, and I am sure it needs a complete re-start but I am not sure if that is in the budget right now. Any advice would be appreciated.
Liked Replies
#524291 Aug 3rd a 11:23 PM
by Snipe
Snipe
This is very interesting to me..
I'm probably going to expose my weakness here but oh well.
My thoughts on removing the larger LMB is that is leaves the gate open for more BG to be left to spawn. Yes, it's removing the largest of the predator that "may" be controlling BCP to some extent but what Data do we have that says the large LMB are targeting BG over BCP or visa versa?? They are going to eat what is most abundant and "catchable"..In my small mind that's not the BCP as there is little slip-through, which I would think there would be some larger crappie showing up, but there isn't. My thought process says they are being taken out before that stage.
I do believe jpsdad is on to something with the density of BG hammering the nest and hatch of any BCP, so... in my mind this would be a multiple-step process. If 1,000's of BG are removed, some bass would need to be removed as well, possibly large and small sizes only if harvest of BG exceeds demand for forage. I think it would need to be an extensive harvest of BG and at some point BCP would have to be reintroduced to start refilling the gap left from the lack of BG for forage with the understanding you need the BCP to reproduce very prolifically in the beginning, So...again, we need the number of small bass and BG at a low enough point we get some slip-through of BCP.
The number of BG to be removed "could" be in the multiples of 1,000's..
On a side note, my pond is quite small compared to yours and yesterday I ran a small fry net around some small patches of floating FA attached to small shore-bound structures such as a tumbleweed. The number of 1/2" to 1" BG I netted from those very small areas literally scared me. They are not being decimated by what I'm seeing visually-at that size, but by what I'm seeing of last years hatch there is a good number being utilized and I don't have LMB.. SMB, YP and Saugeye are my top predators. I do have a few HSB but less than a dozen. By their growth rate, they are eating a lot of "something".
1 member likes this
#524383 Aug 5th a 06:22 AM
by Snipe
Snipe
Originally Posted by Pat Williamson
I don’t see any weakness in your outside the box thinking. I agree with what you said although I didn’t think multiple 1000s of BG would need to go but hey you are lot more in the know than me so we have plan....know anyone that wants some CNBG? Free! We had a bumper crop of LMB two years ago so they,BG are the target species. Snipe the LMB I think target the BCP of 8” cause of their shape whereas a 8” BG is harder to swallow. Used to catch 8” BCP all the time, now can’t catch hardly any. After catching a couple 10# + LMB I know why.....

This may or may not be the case.. I have to keep in mind that there may be other reasons for this.. some we may not understand yet, such as the required forage for BCP to do best. Do we know that element is present for sure? What does the intermediate size structure of LMB look like and how has it affected the available (read preferred) forage for the advanced BCP, which will be competing for a size similar to what most of those intermediate bass are looking for. Did we run into a wall on forage availability?
I'm not going to say BCP won't eat small BG but I don't believe that's high on the preferred list.
What I'm trying to say is there may be things changing that we can't see-maybe some of those elements that aren't so obvious we can point a finger at it without question.
I'm glad to hear the other posters are having success removing Crappie, but I also know by changing 1 element in the pond setting, there are multiple changes-or can be multiple changes that occur that we may not plan for.
One thing I feel fairly confident in saying is that the younger the fish the more diverse it's diet is, which I can also say with some certainty that as a fish grows, it "can" and usually does begin to use prey items that are not as frequently used by smaller fish. Behavior and patterns change and I am no expert at putting my fingers on that in this case.
I do NOT want to cause an imbalance based on a lack of knowledge here. I would love to hear some input by Lusk, jpsdad, Cody, ewest and the likes here to see if my thought train is way off base.
1 member likes this
#524419 Aug 6th a 06:22 AM
by Snipe
Snipe
Originally Posted by anthropic
Back when I lived in the Midwest saugeye were considered a good sportfish & particularly fine eating, though they were bred artificially. They do grow quite large in the proper environment. Wonder if they are generally successful in controlling Crappie? If so, could it be that saugeye become active in colder temps than LMB?

Yes, they are more active in cooler temps. They also have the same abilities the walleye have and can feed very effectively at night.
In KS, Saugeye are used primarily as a crappie control tool now but they are utilized in a couple of areas where fast growth is needed alongside panfish control. Probably the most effective crappie predator there is that can handle the full spectrum of water quality and higher temp conditions unlike the pure WAE.
1 member likes this
Today's Birthdays
Bob Lusk, GaryK, GrizzFan, PhotographerDave
Recent Posts
Happy Birthday Bob Lusk!!
by Rainman - 03/28/24 02:53 AM
Relative weight charts in Excel ? Calculations?
by Mark Dyer - 03/27/24 10:18 PM
Reducing fish biomass
by esshup - 03/27/24 06:17 PM
New 2 acre pond stocking plan
by esshup - 03/27/24 06:05 PM
1 year after stocking question
by esshup - 03/27/24 06:02 PM
Questions and Feedback on SMB
by Donatello - 03/27/24 03:10 PM
Paper-shell crayfish and Japanese snails
by Bill Cody - 03/27/24 10:18 AM
Brooder Shiners and Fry, What to do??
by esshup - 03/27/24 08:47 AM
2024 North Texas Optimal BG food Group Buy
by Dave Davidson1 - 03/27/24 08:15 AM
Dewatering bags seeded to form berms?
by esshup - 03/26/24 10:00 PM
Freeze Danger? - Electric Diaphragm Pump
by esshup - 03/26/24 09:47 PM
Newly Uploaded Images
Eagles Over The Pond Yesterday
Eagles Over The Pond Yesterday
by Tbar, December 10
Deer at Theo's 2023
Deer at Theo's 2023
by Theo Gallus, November 13
Minnow identification
Minnow identification
by Mike Troyer, October 6
Sharing the Food
Sharing the Food
by FishinRod, September 9
Nice BGxRES
Nice BGxRES
by Theo Gallus, July 28
Snake Identification
Snake Identification
by Rangersedge, July 12

� 2014 POND BOSS INC. all rights reserved USA and Worldwide

Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5