Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations Controlling crappie after a bass cull

When we first got our pond it was full of stunted bass and it had a few crappie too. In the time it took us to cull about 100 bass we had caught like 6 crappie total. We figured that since the previous owner only stocked a dozen or so that the multitude of hungry bass kept the crappie from ever taking a serious hold. We also figured that there were just too few to ever establish a population, but then within a week after it started getting cold we caught a whole bunch of them. Most were about 5 inches so we hadn't seen them because they must have just gotten big enough to take a hook.
Needless to say I'm a little woried. Many post on this site have said that if you want to manage for big crappie, overpopulate the bass by tossing back every one. Well we are managing for tubby largemouth. My main worry is that by thinning the bass we'll take the pressure off the crappie and allow their population to explode. It would just make me sick if after all the work and all the money we had to start all over in a few years because the crappie became too successful.
Is there a way to keep the crappie under controll and still grow respecably large bass?
Is there any kind of selective eradication for crappie, like some kind of poison that they are more sensitive to?
Is there a way to identify schools of crappie fry so that they might be destroyed?
How much will fishing the crappie off the nests have on thier population in an 8 acre pond?
Is there any way to tell for sure just how many of them I have without an expensive electro-fishing survey?
Anybody have any other ideas on how to get rid of crappie without harming the other species?

Thanks
-Scott

Scott take a deep breath and relax. It is not that bad. I think the lakes that have lots of crappie, (like the 100 acre lake we shocked) is that way from lack of eduction. They do not know what they have until it is too late. You can make a huge impact on the crappie if you fish for them. I have a hard time catching them other than the spring (others help him out here). Man in the spring when spawning around cover you can load the boat. I like using curl tail jigs on a lead head. Color is not that important in a pond. Fish them slow under a float placed at the proper depth. Trolling works great too in the early spring. Once it gets up into the low 70's you can fish faster.

If you make the effort Scott you can keep the crappie population low while still keeping down the bass numbers to grow big 'uns. I'm gald folks get nervous about crappie they should they can destroy a lake. However with your knowledge and desire to keep it in "balance" I don't think with some effort you will have a problem.

BTW I hear tell you got some 14 inch trout. Mine are eating me out of house and home up to 2 lbs. already

scott, a few fyke nets from netcraft or memphis net and twine would be a good investment for panfish removal, or rough fish control. Bass are shy of them though and rarely go in. You can catch scads of crappie in the spring with them.
Robert B

Robert, what is a fyke net?

Scott:

I think these are the links for those net places.

http://www.jannsnetcraft.com/
http://www.memphisnet.net/

There are some real crappie fanatics over at crappie.com. One of them first referred me to pondboss.com after I posted there hunting for a pond management site.

Jeff

Thanks, I had been curious about netting them out. I couldn't find the nets you mentioned. Exactly what kinds of nets are they and where, how, & when do you use them.
A few more questions. I did some reading and found that crappie usually spawn in 2-10 feet but since that is not very specific deos any one know if there is a general rule about just how deep they will spawn at certain clarity levels? Is there any other usefull information about finding them? Also if I catch them off thier beds is it a good bet that the bluegill will raid the nests or should I go wading through them just to be sure?
-Scott

Fyke nets come in a few different sizes depending on target species. a full size net consists of a (leed), which is basicly a sein with one end getting staked right at water's edge. The other end attaches to a series of rectangular wire rims supporting the funneling chambers. Following these are some round wire hoops which lead to a bag chamber which can be raised and you can get access by untying a simple knot. The whole apparatus is about 50-60 feet? never took time to measure. This length allows the trap to reach out into the water quite a ways. The idea is for the fish to cruise along the bank, hit the leed, follow it out to deeper water where they pass through the series of funnels and end up in the bag which you check daily or so. It is a little tricky to set yourself, but the fish are unharmed if not too stressed by crowding or high water temps. They also catch muskrats and turtles which could also do damage to the net. I will try to find other suppliers or get you a price.
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Robert B

I just had another Idea on this subject.
The water temperatre is just starting to pass 60 and wich means two things. 1, time to fertilize and 2, crappie will be spwaning soon.
My question is, would waiting to ferilize untill after a while past the crappie spawn (but before the bass spawn) reduce thier fry survivability enough to make a difference? or would the extra time before fertilizing just be counter-productive?
thanks
-Scott