Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose How and what to stock for a crappie pond

Ok guys There isn't much talk on here about having a good crappie pond. In the past I have always caught crappie in the spawn and only kept males to throw in my ponds which works very well. Here is my question I want to raise some large crappie and maybe some HBG. What other fish would go well in this situation other than LMB. I stocked 15 lbs of FHM this spring and 10 lbs of GSH and 100 RES this fall. Next spring is when i want to stock it. What else do i need to do? This is going to be a kids pond but would like to raise big crappie with other panfish also. Should a person put in HSB or YP as a predator? Or maybe walleye. Do you stock CNB with crappie. The pond is around 1 acre Any thoughts please.

KSBASS, how big is the pond?

around 1 acre

HSB would work well but you better be sure you only have male crappie. Not sure you have enough forage fish FH and GSH. Feeding would help.

What other forage fish would work if i stocked male and female crappie. Just want it to mainly be a crappie pond that grows big crappie. i just figured I would throw in a HSB just to help keep them from overpopulating

I'm thinking about this! In the mean time, just be aware that Crappie in a pond is not recommended on here. I personally don't think it will be a big deal if managed properly. In my non professional opinion, it will be somewhat of a commitment though if you use non producing predators. (Walleye, and HSB)Let me chew on this a bit. I have a pond that has Crappie only, and about the same size as yours.

Well I know alot about crappie and love to catch and eat nice ones. It is going to be a chore will have to take out alot each year but I do think if managed properly it could be awesome with 2 and 3 lb crappies. That is my goal with other fish too like big HBG which i will feed. I know most people don't like crappie but its a fish like any other and i have several ponds and i want to devoted this one to mainly Big Crappie and Hybrid Bluegill

If you read all the posts and threads on crappie and then fish the heck out of all the best crappie ponds; you will find or catch mature golden shiners. And are less likely to find stunted crappie with solid population of golden shiners. In ponds or lakes that are overrun with Crappie I never catch or see a GS. A large diverse minnow base would be good, along with habitat for them to live and make babies with? do you have a pond you could raise feeder minnows in??

Are you thinking black or white crappie?? Is it set up to be easy to seine or trap if the YOY do get out of control??

If its your dream go for it!!

If you go LMB will you single sex them all male??

What about setting up an area in the pond to use a fyke net to help cut back on overpopulation of the crappie. There is a nice thread somewhere here about a guy doing just that.

Start here in the archives.

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

Well I was thinking about havign both white and black since white get bigger. I agree with the minnow base. They have been in there for a whole year along with the golden shiners. I currently have a feeder minnow pond that i just built it is almost 2 acres and is around 3 feet deep in the spring i will drain it and make it deeper it is currently a wetland for ducks.

What other fish would be good in the pond. Would CNB be ok or should i stick with HBG? Should I try some YP or Walleye? Im probably going to throwin around 20 HSB

I doubt that CNBG will survive the winters by you. For other fish to stock, think of species that will NOT prey on the minnow population. HBG will. You will have a hard enough time keeping enough forage in the pond for the crappies. Plan on making a concentrated effort every year to keep the crappie population down, or be prepared to partially drain and rotenone if they stunt.

Establishing a regular supplemental pellet feeding program will help the fish populations that aren't or can't be pellet trained. (minnows, sunfish, HSB, etc.) So that will help take pressure off of the forage fish.

I'd also look into doing a catch and transfer of single sex LMB when you can positively ID them when they are spawning. If you can't 100% verify the sex, don't stock it.

Esshup CNBG actually do very well here. I have them 6 out of 8 of my ponds. So do you think HBG would be a bad idea even if I fed pellets everyday? I have never Id a LMB what markings does a male have? That would be a possiblitly that I could very easily. I figured if the pond did get out of control I would switch and throw some LMB in.

If CNBG do well there, then you'd also have to manage them so they don't overpopulate. I'd look into stocking RES instead of CMBG. HBG have a large mouth gape for their length. Larger HBG are comparable to 6"-8" LMB in the size of fish that they can eat. Don't be fooled by the misconception that HBG, CNBG, BG, RES don't prey on a lot of small fish. I've got a few pictures somewhere showing 10" BG being caught on a 2 1/2" - 3" imitation BG crankbait.

With CNBG/BG, I'll bet they will spawn too much for HSB/WE to control their numbers. Other members here have that problem with BG/HSB ponds. RES don't have their fecundity, so they would be easier to control. Plus, you want the predators to target small Crappie..... Feeding WILL help, and you can control the numbers of HBG in the pond easier than you can control the numbers of CNBG. Will it help enough? That's where keeping a log of fish caught comes into play.

I'm not saying that HBG are a "bad" idea, just that you'll have to keep an eye on the forage base with a lot of predators in there. Think of how many fish will be in the pond that prey on the FHM/GSH, and how many pounds of forage fish they will eat per year. It'll be a balancing act, and you as the pond manager will have to continually monitor the growth and WR so you can stay ahead of the curve. Keeping a log of fish caught, (even if released) will be important for staying ahaed of the curve. Species, length and weight need to be tracked if you want the pond to stay as the fishery that you are striving for.

Thanks Esshup After thinking about it and reading alot of threads I mite stick with what i have been doing and that is catching only males in the spawn and stocking 6 to 8 inch fish. some mite be stunted but everytime i do this they grow out of it and end up being nice fish. It has worked very well for me. Its funny how when you have ponds how much thought and preperation and stress a person puts into one. Thats why its so great! Just like a science project.

Would crappie be a good forage species in a blue and flathead catfish pond?

yes i would say so

So catfish could keep up with crappie reproduction?

KSBass - first try doing what you have been doing by only adding male crappie to the new 1 ac pond. This option gives you the most management options and best results. It has worked in the past for your other pond so start with the same technique in the new pond. I think you will find the average size of crappie will be bigger over time as single sex vs a mixed sex population. If not satisfied, then later you can always add mixed sex crappie. With single sex crappie you will not need as many predators thus you will overall have more forage for the growth of the single sex crappie and fish will tend to average bigger sizes. Feeding the HSB will tend to cause them to eat fewer minnows leaving more forage for crappie. With single sex crappie you can use the HSB and YP. If many (HSB, HBG, YP) are eating pellets except crappie, plenty of minnows will be available due to most are pellet welfare fish. You can always add more HSB or some walleye when you need more predation pressure for YP or HSB. Or if more predation is needed cut back on amount of pellets offered. Lots of options. Reserve LMB for mixed sex crappie, but I think if you do the first plan, you will be very happy with the results.

Bill, speaking of LMB & crappies (I only have BC plus one 17"white crappie in my pond", this past spring, I found a dead 17" LMB with a 9" BC stuck halfway down its throat. I thought the bass were keeping up with the BC until this fall when we had some friends over and the were catching a lot of 5"-8" BC. I'm thinking a BC fish fry in about 6 months.

Do walleye eat a lot of crappie or just what ever they can catch?

The single sex crappie fishery is probably one of the easiest ways to enjoy crappies in a pond. You can catch 2-4 dozen crappies of the same sex in a day in the early spring when they are spawning. At that time of the year, they are easy to sex. The water is cool so they are easy to hold and transfer. It is the option I am using for growing some jumbo crappies with minimal management. Not hard in a couple weeks fishing to move 50-100 single sex crappies. If you do that each year, you can expect to produce a high quality trophy fishery.

Do the Female Crappie get larger than the males? I know in many species this is the case...

You may see if you can find a few Hybrid Crappie. I bought some of these from Overton's last Spring and will be watching to see how they do.

Hybrid Crappie

"The Hybrid Crappie (Black/White Cross) are finally available as an option for stocking crappie in small ponds. Traditionally crappie have not been recommended for
stocking in less than 10-15 surface acres due to their potential to overpopulate.

The spawning potential of hybrid crappie is greatly reduced compared to that of their white and black crappie counterparts, so they are a better option for small waters. Suggested stocking rate is 100-300 per surface acre. Ideal forage for crappie are minnows and threadfin shad"

http://www.overtonfisheries.com/StockerFish/SportFish/HybridCrappie/tabid/337/Default.aspx