Catfish as a top predator? - 01/21/10 05:57 PM
I just stumbled onto this site....love it! I have a 2.5-3 acre pond. It is approx. 18 yrs. old, 9 ft deep at it's lowest spot with an average of 4-6 ft. and was stocked with largemouth, channel catfish, bluegill and crappie. It also has a population of what I think are fathead minnows. I purchased this lake 2 yrs ago and the previous owner of 8yr. had never fished in it. I assume that there were some occasional secret fishermen, but the sum of it is that there has been virtually no fishing pressure. In the past 2 yrs. I have fished it as often as possible. I have had much success and in fact, I have caught LMB as large as 28 inches and have caught (and released) many over 20. On any given afternoon, I can catch a stringer of bass ranging from 10 to 24 inches and there are smaller ones present. I am also confident that the channel are raising since I can see sizes from under a pound to over 10 when I occasionally feed. I see numbers in the 50-75 range at dinner time. The bluegill population is large and mostly in the 2-4 in range, but I have caught some as large as 12 inches.
The crappie population is what I am primarily interested in. I kinda get the feeling that many here consider them a nusaunce, but I love them. I know that there are many under 5 in. in my pond. I have caught some nice stringers of 11-13in fish, an a few as large as 17in, though not many. I am looking for any kind of advice on how to improve the crappie catch. I desire quality over quantity.
One question in particular concerns channel. Do they prey on crappie? My desire would be to eliminate them, but I don't want to do so if they are contributing to crappie management.
Would you consider my pond overstocked? I think that is kinda interesting that it has such a balance in all species while not being fished for so many years. I don't want to mess up the balance. Sorry for the long read on the background.
The crappie population is what I am primarily interested in. I kinda get the feeling that many here consider them a nusaunce, but I love them. I know that there are many under 5 in. in my pond. I have caught some nice stringers of 11-13in fish, an a few as large as 17in, though not many. I am looking for any kind of advice on how to improve the crappie catch. I desire quality over quantity.
One question in particular concerns channel. Do they prey on crappie? My desire would be to eliminate them, but I don't want to do so if they are contributing to crappie management.
Would you consider my pond overstocked? I think that is kinda interesting that it has such a balance in all species while not being fished for so many years. I don't want to mess up the balance. Sorry for the long read on the background.