I have a new 3/4-1 acre pond. I really want to include black crappie in my stocking. I've been told by some folks that it won't work. Others have said that I can have success provided I practice good pond management. Any success stories from anyone?

My two favorite ponds to fish are 2.5 and 3.5 acres. Both have black crappie. The larger pond has always had fairly heavy pressure and the crappie regularly grow to 14 inches. There is also a high density LMB population that keeps the YOY BC culled.

The smaller pond's crappie stunted quickly and it's taken three years of harvest pressure to bring the crappie from 8 inches up to an acceptable size of 10 inches for good eating.

For some reason we've found the crappie to be really easy to trap, which is another method of keeping population density down.

You said the key words, that you "really want" black crappie in your pond. If that is the case I think you should plan on stocking them, and plan on managing them. I think you'll do fine.

Welcome to the forum, Kep.

Kep welcome to the PB forum.

You said " I really want to include black crappie in my stocking."

What is the rest of the plan and your goals for the pond including what part of the country (that often makes a difference)?

Here is a list of several outstanding discussions on Crappie ponds. You will then understand the problem and be better able to manage whatever you decide to do.


http://www.pondboss.com/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=5;t=000461

Ewest and Bruce,
Thanks for your replies. In reference to your question Ewest, in addition to black crappie, I plan to stock LMB, bluegill, redear, and FHM. I reside in south Louisiana. The deepest part of my pond will hold 8' of water.

Before I knew any better I put BC in my 1/2 acre pond. They have reproduced very well and I have to constantly trap them out to keep them under control. That seems to work but I have to keep at it. I don't very often catch a big one. I catch about 1 large one a year. Usually kind of skinny. Might even be the only one in there since I always let him go. Last year I caught one about 12 inches.

bz, do you have very many LMB in this pond? I'm trying to figure out why BC do so poorly many times, but every once in a while do better. I've always assumed that it was LMB pressure.

Here are some facts about black crappie. These facts are what make them tough to manage in small waters.
First, they spawn earlier in the spring than other warm water fish. Next, their babies eat other fish's babies. Next, black crappie are inconsistent spawners, so you can't predict if and when they have babies. Toss in the fact that they are predators with medium-sized mouths and you have a combination for an unpredictable fish not large enough to eat each other, but plenty large enough mouths to eat lots of babies. This is a formula for overpopulation and diminished growth. It's not a matter of "if", but more "when?" Crappie are best suited in a diverse environment of larger water.
When someone tells me they want crappie, it usually means they want a fish to eat. Bluegill are a viable substitute. Consider them. You can grow many more, and they can push beyond a pound.

I appreciate your dilemma. They're a great panfish and fun to catch on light tackle. They're also reliable in winter and early spring when nothing else bites.

I have fished many ponds that contained many stunted BC and BG. I have also fished seveal ponds that contained a better size distribution of W&BC and and plenty of nice BG as well. The better ponds had some things in common. That would be lots of weeds (to shelter baby BG and produce forage species), lots of larger LMB (to predate the medium size W&BC), and larger size ponds seem to be the main factors.

I have a theory that W&BC spawning is triggered by rising water or large amounts of "strange" water flowing into the pond roughly around spawning time.

I have permission to fish 2 local ponds with crappie. Both are no bigger than 1/2 acre.

In one pond, the crappie we have caught were 8-10" range, but there were not many caught-however a few years ago someone threw in a couple of flathead catfish in the pond and they just about cleaned out the pond so for a while we never caught many fish.

In the other pond, you can catch crappie 6-8" long all day long with a few bass and bream as well.

I really believe if you keep all the crappie you catch and fish on a consistant basis instead of once or twice a year, you have a better chance of keeping crappie under control.

I have a 1/2 acre pond where I threw crappie in this year. I don't know exactly how the pond was stocked but it seems like the majority of what has been caught is bream. If the crappie take this pond over, I'm going to throw in a Hybrid Striped Bass or 2. If this fails, I've got 2 other ponds to fall back on.

turkeyfoot - why have you decided "to throw in a HSB or 2" instead of adding more LMB?

I have not added any HSB. I am still in the process in transporting crappie (45 have been thrown in this year and I'll throw in 10-15 more next year) and LMB. IF the crappie appear to have taken over the pond, then I'll look into HSB.

I have though about this in the past also and will give another perspective although I have no experience. I would stock your forage base(fat heads,threadfin,crayfish,frogs(not bullfrogs)) and make sure you have enough breeding and hiding places for all to thrive. Id make sure you have plenty of vegitation in the pond, crappie love reeds. This will provide an area for other insects and food to thrive. Some really good rocky areas and piles for the dads. Feed them regularly. then the following spring stock your crappie but under stock them. The following spring(year2) Id stock a few small 6" albino channel cats(maybe 3-4 fish). When you go out to feed your fish you will be able to easily see your cats comming up to feed and be able to count how many and control through fishing. Id errect a large hanging basket over deep water and have it shaded very well. Now when you start catching small crappie you can throw them in the basket. Flys and bug will lay their eggs and the larva will fall through the basket into the water. That way when you remove small crappie that no one wants to eat they will not go to waste, catch all the little ones you can. To me any predators will help the crappie to make quick work of the forage so other than the albino cats i would not add anything. After another 4-5 years you can remove the catfish as you like pretty easily and you should get a few $$$ for them also.

Bruce, sorry I didn't see your question until now. My pond is 1/2 acre and I have six LMB in it. They were stocked two years ago with sizes ranging from 6 to 10 inches. I know the bass have reproduced but the young are still very small. I'm hoping my bass will one day control the BC.

Robbor, I use my spare BC just as you say. I trap them and hang them in a basket. They are converted into fish food within several days.

Do you happen to have an update on your pond and BC.

Thanks

Bruce,what kind of trap do you use to catch croppie?