Kirk I am not an expert, but what I would do if it were my pond and that is what had been stocked, I would start feeding and fishing. I would take out every crappie, bass and catfish I caught, till I removed enough to where the experts on this forum think is the amount that would have been best to initially stock. Fish traps might help in the removal also.
With a half to three quarters acre pond it is unlikely you could possibly catch enough of those three species to be too many. So pick up some small lures/bait/hooks appropriate for the current size fish, and fish away to your hearts content. That is what I would do. I have actually caught adult FHM on a #10 cricket hook so you can catch some pretty small fish via hook and line. Small hook and small bait. I might also put in about 10-15 nice 6-8" BG from another good water source. Since I am not that good at sexing fish I would not worry about it. Just pick nice looking, healthy fish large enough so the predators can not eat them.
That would be my non-expert opinion of how to move forward, for what it is worth. Oh, and if you do not already have it add aeration. Aeration will let you push the feed limit/pond carrying capacity more than you could without it. That will be important with a heavy fish load and will allow you to feed your BG to help them get ahead of the predators better with larger spawns.
Last edited by snrub; 06/26/16 10:55 PM.
