I have a 2 1/2 acre pond with pretty clear water. This is a new pond as of last year. We stocked CC, BG, HBG and FHM Last spring. We are now ready to stock predator fish. The supplier recommends 150 LMB and 50 black Crappie. He claims that black Crappie do not reproduces rapidly as other crappie and therefore will not be a problem. I Kamay complete novice and would like some advice on whether to stock the Crappie. Thank you,
Black crappie are not as bad as white crappie when it comes to spawning prolifically, this is true. However, they're still unpredictable and usually not suggested in a small pond. They're not impossible to manage by any means. If you happen to live on the pond and can manage them very aggressively, it is possible. But, I would wait. Without predators already established, I would definitely hold off on the crappie. If you were to stock crappie, I would wait until your largemouth bass can control them. That may mean years down the road when your bass average 15 inches. They would readily consume any undesirable 5 inch crappie.
Hey, welcome to the forum W Cubed. How did you hear about Pond Boss?
Ditto with what Omaha said!
There is some difference of opinion on black vs white crappie. Also difference numbers re fecundity. Difference observers show different results.
One source I look at is "Aquatext". It indicates that BC lay 60,000 eggs and WC lay 20,000.
I rarely buy what the fish sellers say.
Wcubed, the real question is who are you getting your fish from. There are good fish sellers and bad fish sellers. This site had a very good reputation for knowing the difference. Ask these experts before you buy, they are not selling you anything, but they will be able to steer you isn the right direction.
DD1 nice link -
http://www.aquatext.com/mainframe.htm I will add it to the archive search base.
I could not find crappie on there but lots of good info.
Best fish info source I know of is FishBase
http://fishbase.org/ .
Last I checked the white crappie were 200,000 and black crappie were up to 160,000. There are some differences between them as you noted.
Personally? I wouldn't add crappie. I'm having a hard enough time in my personal pond keeping the forage fish numbers high enough for the LMB that are in the pond. Part of my problem is the fluctuating water levels due to the drought.
Thanks everyone for the information. We are buying from Osage Catfisheries in Missouri, which came highly recommended by a very knowledgeable nearby pond manager. However, even they have given me somewhat conflicting advice on Crappie, depending on who I talk to at Osage. Based on replies on this site, it appears we should avoid the Crappie altogether. It's too bad, because I love the taste of crappie. There are three partners in the farm and we all live an hour away. We will not be able to apply a lot fishing pressure.
In case it makes a difference, we just bought a fish feeder and plan to feed our fish. Also, the pond has a small spring running into it. Even during last summer's drought we were only about 18 inches below full pool, even though the spring stopped running on the surface. We are now completely full. I assume the 25 foot depth of the pond helped with water retention.
We left a ridge in deep water and have some rocky shelves, in addition to trees we cut and left in the pond for structure. Most of the trees were positioned so that some of the branches are still above the water, so we would know where they are and insects and would land on them and fall in the water.
If anyone has any other advice about feeding or whether we should aerate, or whether we should consider species other than CC, BG, HBG, FHM and LMB, please reply. I have no clue as to what I'm doing.
I learned of this site from two friends who manage large ponds and raved about this thing the only place to go. They suggested that I subscribe to the magazine, which I did.
Cubed, I would suggest the HYBRID Crappie and NOT the straight Black Crappie if you will be unable to keep on the fishing pressure. The straight BC WILL overpopulate eventually without constant management...could be sooner...could be later. The Hybrids have a track record of not overpopulating according to all those reporting to date, and while it is anecdotal, it is becoming pretty solid in that conclusion now.
re: feeding
Use a good food. If you are feeding BG and CC, Purina Game Fish Chow will do, or if you want quicker growth, feed Purina AquaMax. Feed pellet size should be smaller than mouth gape, or about the size of the fish's eyeball for panfish.
Stock feed trained fish if you can, especially LMB. BG and CC will feed train themselves, but you'll see better growth from feed trained fish. LMB typically will NOT feed train themselves.
Feed when water temps are above 60°F, and only feed the amount of food that they will consume in 15 minutes.
Aeration will help stop Oxygen swings from night to day. Right before daylight is typically the lowest oxygen levels in the pond. Aerating the pond using a bottom diffuser aeration system will allow the fish to utilize the whole water column in deeper ponds. In deeper ponds, typically a thermocline will set up and fish won't utilize the water beneath the thermocline.
As for other species, it depends on your goals. You could look at RES, HSB, YP, seasonal stocking of Trout for the winter, etc.
Thanks. What is HSB and YP?
Hybrid striped bass and yellow perch.
Try and get a copy or read the article in this months PondBoss.
If you subscribe you wont regret it!! But it may give you more ideas than you have time for. Still a great read for your hour drive to the pond.
Since you have access to crappies at another pond/lake, catch them during the spawn and only through in the single sex, Like the glazed black male!! Shouldnt be a problem rounding up 50 of them to make for nice bonus fish. just make sure the people doing the sexing know what they are doing.
Good luck and let know how it turns out!!
Thanks. What is HSB and YP?
for a lot of them used here.
Strongly advise against stocking straight BCP or WCP in your fishery - consider HBCP or as Bill's article suggests single sex BC.
Osage tends to be correct for the fecundity of the crappie. The Handbook of Freshwater Fishery Biology reports the following for numbers of eggs of white (WCP) and black crappie (BCP):
6.2"-8.5" WCP=32,000-208K; BCP 11,000-48K.
8.7"-11" WCP= 40,000-123K; BCP 30,000-66K.
11.5"-13" WCP= 77,000-496K; BCP 77,000-188K.
The general health and food conditions where the crappie are living will significantly affect how many eggs will develop in the females. Also crappie can have extended spawning periods where they will lay eggs over days, weeks or even a couple months. This feature will strongly affect how many eggs a particular female will have in her at one time.
In my PBoss Mar-Apr 2013 article about crappie I note that whites thrive better in more turbid water compared to BCP who 'prefer' clearer water of visibilities 2ft to 5ft. After 3 to 5 yrs you will know the average pond clarity of your pond, then stock the appropriate specie of crappie. Also if you do or don't want crappie, I suggest that you stock some hybrid striped bass before the pond is 1-2 yrs old so when you stock crappie the adult HSB help prey on the young crappie who live in the open water habitat until they are larger 3"-5". HSB live primarily in the offshore, open water habitat. My crappie article (Pond Boss Mag Mar-Apr 2013; Crappie As A Bonus, Plus Growth Rates and Sexing) discusses all this. Choose and pick a predator that lives where the prey items are most common.
So if you want to try crappie out but would hope not to have too many offspring and can not get your hands on some hybrids, would stocking BCP in a murky pond be a good idea since they like clear water?
On another note if you have a clear pond will both the WCP and BCP perform about the same?
I was thinking that WCP do fine in both turbid and clear water, where as BCP do not care for turbid water and may have a hard time.