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

Crappie can be pellet trained but this is difficult to get the correct size fingerling crappie and correct blend of training diet sequence. Usually this has to be done in a cage or some sort of tank. Trying to pellet train free ranging crappie to where lots of them are eating pellets, I think is extremely difficult, if not practically impossible.

CC will become more predatory the bigger they grow past 16". They will pellet train a lot better than crappie, although wild CC may not readily train to eat pellets unless there are some other pelleting eating CC present. Most pond owners here buy their CC from a fish farm where the CC are raised on pellets so they already know what pellets are and where to look for them somewhere at the surface.

so your saying if i get channels from a river ect then they wont be able to pellet feed? strange though cats would eat anything basically

I am not saying CC from the river will not eat pelleted feed. Reread what I said - ""wild CC may not readily train to eat pellets unless there are some other pelleting eating CC present. I said may not; I did not say will not.

I am saying it will take some added effort to get them to come up off the bottom for pellets. When they realize food is on the surface they will readily eat pellets. This is what I would do if you stock river CC. Go some where and get some pelleting CC from a pond where CC are eating pellets. To catch them use live bait near the surface when the cats are feeding on pellets. This way you are confident the fish you catch are pellet eaters. These fish will help "teach" the wild CC to eat pellets. It is very possible that a few of the wild river CC will never learn to eat pellets. It is unnatural for bottom oriented CC to feed at the surface; so they have to be conditioned to come to the surface for their food.

I think Bill C nailed it....Data point...I stocked 15 pellet trained CC from a fish farm in my little puddle. They all always showed up at feeding time (I could count them). Later I also stocked a few wild caught CC. The count at feeding time went up but I couldn't keep track as the wild ones seemed to be more shy. When we went to harvest the CC at 2 to 3 pounds, we figured we had them all when there were no more showing up at feeding time. Then last summer my wife caught a 6 and a 7 pound. They must have been two of the wild ones that just choose not to eat pellets.

Bill C You are 100% correct. I stocked 200 CC and BC that were pellet trained when I got them. Funny thing is that since they were added I have never seen them come to the surface to take pellets. Even now several years later..... not saying that they aren’t seining some up that sink.

If I had persnickety CC, I would buy a single bag of sinking catfish feed. Mix some floating and sinking. I hand feed. Using a feeder might be different. But CC can be shy till they get used to your presence. We have multiple year classes of CC recruitment and I will still see some CC frantically swimming about for feed near the bottom while others are eating floating pellets. They know there is food near by the feeding frenzy, but have just not been conditioned yet to go to the surface which is unnatural for them.

Some feed on the bottom (modest amounts of sinking feed - don't get carried away and foul the water) will get the shy ones conditioned to eat commercial feed and look for it at feeding time. Once they have the idea they can transition to the floating feed.

You don't have to continue feeding the sinking feed. Just long enough to get them started. One bag likely will be all that is needed.

John

John they must be finding enough to eat they are 5-6# now ....

ohh well guess if the channels wont eat the feed the bluegills will get nice n fat if only i could get crappie to eat pellets


tbh i dont want my channels getting over 4 pounds so would it be better idea t try to not feed them? since i prefer them for food id think it would keep them around 2-3 pounds if they arnt eating regularly which is perfect

I don’t think you can starve them, they will find something to eat . Feed your BG and they will reproduce more and help feed your CC.

but feeding them pellets will get them bigger generaly though right?

Well ..... yes but you don’t want to harvest skinny catfish for eating. I would stock small amounts of them and as you harvest them add more. Stagger stock them so you will have the size you want . Just an idea to toss around

ugh sucks that crappie is such a hard fish t keep bluegill r easy can feed em n they get big fast crappie have t have fish and only small fish reason i dont want bass in the pond is im afraid they will start eating my big gills n crappies and its hard t keep fishing thebig ones out

BG will overpopulate as will crappie.. that’s why you need predators to keep a balance