Ozark, your Crappie have likely way overpopulated your pond which is why they are rarely if ever suggested for small, <50-100 acre, ponds.
Hybrid Striped bass can take out a huge number of the smaller Crappie and your LMB will handle the larger ones. The other problem is that if the Crappie have over-populated and are stunting, your pond has reached it's full carrying capacity in terms of fish bio-mass. Adding the HSB will lessen the Crappie numbers, but you will need to use a rod and reel or other methods to heavily reduce your LMB numbers.
I would suggest adding at least 150 HSB in the 8-12 inch size class now, or this Spring. This Fall, begin removing all LMB under 15 inches that are caught.
If you like, and don't already have Channel Catfish, you may want to add 25-50 around 14" to the mix to help disrupt Crappie bedding and thus reduce the potential recruitment of Crappie. Also excellent table fare
Flathead catfish are voracious eaters and grow quickly. They will devastate the numbers of biggest size fish they can eat. Unless FH can be removed at will, they will soon be targeting and removing ALL of your big LMB as they grow.
Send me a PM if you want or need help getting some HSB.
Edit: At being 15 years old, many of your recent catches of big bass are from the original stocking. If the pond was not well managed prior to your ownership, I would not be at all surprised is there are large numbers of starving smaller bass in your pond already....they will need to be removed to help bring the correct balance of the predator and prey relationship.
Last edited by Rainman; 01/16/11 10:50 AM.
