Originally Posted By: Snipe
Originally Posted By: Mike Whatley
My main interest is in crowd control during the colder months, when everything else's feeding requirements slow down. Being they're sterile I'll know how many are there and can try to fish them out come spring.

Kind of reverse psychology when thinking about stocking tilapia. Instead of restocking TP every spring for forage, which I don't need, I'd be stocking a temporary predator in the fall, which may or may not survive the summer, but still offer excellent table fare, and still feed heavy on those YOY and late spawn fry. My understanding is they tend to feed a lot at night, so shorter days of light should be a non-issue. Come spring they should be big enough to harvest.

Edit: Anyone know what the gape on a 12" Saugeye is??

Mike, I don't have a gape chart but I can tell you 11-12" SAE will CLEAN HOUSE on 2.5-3" crappie.


I don't "THINK" I have many crappie in my little mutt pond, I've only caught two. One 6" in a trap, the other was 11" on rod. My biggest concern is that stockers too large would have a detrimental impact on my more mature BG if there aren't enough appropriate sized crappie. But it's the smaller panfish I want them to target anyway. I'm thinking 12-14" may be the target size for removal, much like LMB.

It sounds like the gape of SAE may be very comparable to that of LMB if 11-12" SAE target 2.5-3" crappie, which would be roughly 1/3 their size.

Last edited by Mike Whatley; 01/14/19 06:10 PM.
.10 surface acre pond, 10.5 foot deep. SW LA. The epitome of a mutt pond. BG, LMB, GSF, RES, BH, Warmouth, Longear Sunfish, Gambusia,Mud Minnows, Crappie, and now shiners!!...I subscribe!!