Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations WE/BC ?

Is it possible to use WE as main predator to eat the BC when there under 1-3"s? thanks

Iceman

If you have a plentiful number of 16"-18" walleye they may effectively prey on BC of that size, However, BG are boom or bust spawners and I doubt if you relied soley on WE to effectively control any species of crappie you'd get the results you wanted.

What could I use as a predator to help eat up some of the small crappies and fry? My neighbor trying to be a nice guy since i let him fish dumped 350 1-3" BC in my 1 acre pond last Oct before he moved away. I need something to put in my pond to eat off some fry when they spawn, I hope to catch a few hundred out but it may be tuff.

Iceman

Heavy angling pressure will help. Do you have LMB in your pond? LMB in the 12"-16" range will be the most efficient predator on the crappies. Some studies have also indicated HSB are possibly efficient predators on crappies as well. However, it would take too long for newly stocked HSB to get to a reasonable size to prey on your new BC. If you have bass, they should help. I would also target and catch and keep every BC you catch. If you start to see that they are spawning and causing issues, you can invest in a fyke net and look into using them to remove large numbers of BC that way...

It took me about 5 years of keeping every one that I caught before I was able to see the last of them in my pond, and I think I only had 100 or so.....

Yes I have many bass between 12-16 inches, caught a few last week and they looked very healthy. When the water warms up I will dive down and look over the fish and if I see too many crappies yet I can add some larger bass from my other ponds. Thanks

Iceman

I wouldn't go adding anymore bass. If you have plentiful 12"-16" bass already those bass should do a number on the originally stocked crappies. Perhaps enough to minimize their possible damage.