Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose Repopulating the Pond

Hey, this is my first post on the forum after being a long time reader. I don't know if this is a breach of etiquette but I have a few questions.

One of my ponds drained in March of 2017 due to the dam being washed out, and it was refilled by July of the same year. It is 66 acres, about 12 feet deep in its deepest spots, and has a ton of submerged stumps. Before it drained it supported a relatively diverse ecosystem, containing LMB, Crappie, Blue Gill, Chain Pickerel, and Gar. The fishing was so-so mainly because most of the bass in the pond were relatively small, apart from an 8lb bass I caught once. I think the bass were stunted because crappie were overpopulated.
I know there are bass still in there but I figure the crappie will come back faster than the LMB.

I want to relocate bass from a different pond where they are overpopulated. Would this method curb the crappie population? Would the bass even be able to acclimate to a new environment? And if so, how many bass should I relocate?
Thanks guys, I look forward to communicating with you all.

For best results of controlling young crappie in my opinion (IMO) your add stock plan should include addition of some hybrid stripped bass who feed primarily in open water where young of year crappie are very numerous and 'hangout' until they are around 2"-3". LMB are not instinctively open water feeders, but will feed where they can find the best prey catch. Water of 66 acres is a lot of area to use angler catch/transfer of just LMB to make a significant impact on an over abundant panfish community.

Big water requires a significant amount of management to overcome an noticeable unbalanced fishery. The lake is big enough if properly balanced with adequate numbers of proper size classes of predators to produce a quality crappie fishery. Adding more small 8"-12" LMB with numbers of 250-350 may not achieve your goals. I would resign myself to spending some money on getting some professional fisheries experience involved if you truly want to overcome the overabundant small crappie population and get this small lake back into fishery balance.

There are two very good professional fisheries management companies in SE US: Solitude Lake Management
Greg Grimes group at Aquatic Environmental Services.

Thanks for the advice, it is much appreciated. I see Hybrid Striped Bass talked about frequently but have limited knowledge about them. Would they compete with LMB for food? I would love to have another predatory fish but not if it is at the expense of the LMB population.

I asked Bob Lusk precisely this question today. He responded that HSB and LMB don't compete much with each other, as they prefer different feeding strategies & niches in the pond. HSB go after open water prey, LMB more along the littoral zone edges.

Added HSB in my BOW this spring, and the larger LMB have gained tremendous weight. At the very least, does not seem to be a problem with having both.

Funny that everyone says that LMB are not open water fish. I see splashes out in open water and cast to it and usually catch a LMB. I also have crappie.they have not overpopulated as of yet,(5 years) in fact have not seen signs of any spawns since the one at stocking.... strange critters

It's quite simple to me.. If the preferred forage is out in open water, a LMB will pursue it there without question. I can't count the times I've been catching white bass/wiper in shad schools hundreds of times, hundreds of yards from shore and catching LMB in those schools.
Data says LMB prefer to feed primarily adjacent to structure, I believe that to be true, however, they feed where opportunity exists.

In our local large COE reservoir, the LMB follow the shad schools in deep open water along with stripers and white bass. Blue catfish tend to hang under the schools, picking off the cripples. But, this is not a pond, it's a deep, open, 28,000 acre BOW.