mr willy,
Nice article. I'm building more ponds and am interested in making one of them a crappie pond.
I'm forming the opinion that the chances of success with crappie are much better if the pond is a crappie pond and not a LMB pond with crappie or a diverse multifish pond with crappie. By that I mean, it seems, that in the cases I've read about where crappie are successful in ponds, those ponds are managed, either intentionally or accidentally, for crappie.
The LMB are allowed/encouraged to overpopulate. The water is clear indicating no added chemicals, e.g. fertilizer and vegetation is present again indicating no pond management or deliberate management for a more preferred environment.
Those are not bad things in my opionion and fit very much with my own views. If indeed crappie are successful under the above conditions, as many have indicated, then it is a fish worth having in its own pond.
The discussion of diverting attention away from gizzard shad and BG is on the mark I believe and is exactly what I have observed with Tilapia, i.e. Tilapia divert LMB attention away from BG. Again, that thought says to be successful with crappie one needs to make it a crappie pond, i.e. do not stock it with fish that would divert the LMB attention away from young crappie. It makes sense to me and is worth a try.
Thanks for the link.
