Welcome AW,
What I'm interested in is Crappie, which is a rather common fish in the area where I live. Unfortunately I don't find a great deal of concise information about them here. Any pointers? (search turned up a whole host of posts, but only where crappie are mentioned second-hand or as 'pest' fish).
Currently I've got an 11 acre mostly-swamp in the 'bottoms' (as they call it around here) I hope to eventually work into some sort of lake, though I'm just starting out on that epic journey. I finally subbed to PB so I can start my edumukation.
By far, the majority of us here have ponds that are less than a few acres. As a consequence, most of us who have crappie, have similar experiences with crappie. Mine, for instance, are OK. I've got big crappie. But, they are not something I can go out and fish for, and hope to bring some back to the kitchen. Defending our PB postings, I think many of us would like to successfully grow crappie. They just don't do very well in small waters, and are always a lurking potential problem when they are in a pond. In my years here on the forum, I can't really remember anyone reporting great success with crappie in small ponds. We'd welcome some positive experiences.
If you can somehow get 11 acres of water available to growing fish, I think you'd have a very good chance of successfully growing them.
Been lurking on PB for a bit of while now, reading, listening, and watching and I've come to the conclusion that the only important fish is the LMB.
Personally I don't care for them, or catfish so much when it comes to actually going out and fishing for them specifically.
Fodder (BG, Crayfish/shrimp, shad/shiners, talapia??), controls, depths of water body? Hopefully something that can sustain itself once introduced.
If you do successfully get crappies growing, to do so you will need some aggressive predators, such as LMB, and possibly Channel Catfish. Maybe Hybrid Striped Bass. You'll need additional self-sustaining forage, like bluegill and maybe tilapia. The predators will have to be kept in balance, which means fishing for them.
I've been reasonably active here on the forum for a number of years now. From my perspective here at Pond Boss, LMB hardly enter into my fishing equation. They are just a tool in my pond, and far from my most favorite fish. My pond has Bluegill, Catfish, Trout, Crappie, and Large Mouth Bass, and occasionally, red eared sunfish. Bluegill are at the top of the favorites list in my pond -- the favorites being pretty much in the order I listed above.
Maybe I'm patting my friends and myself on the back, but I feel like we have really broadened everyone's knowledge of the goods and bads of a wide variety of fish pond residents -- including fish like bowfin, yellow perch, small mouth bass, walleye, northern pike, etc. At any one time, I figure the fish I'm most interested in, is the most important fish on the forum. Heck, we've learned to love lots of crazy critters in and around our ponds, from snakes to soldier flies.
Regards,
Ken
