Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations I've got CRAPPIE!!!!

I thought I did all my research and planning right. I had to drain my 9 acre pond to fix the dam in Dec '10, and I poisoned the remaining water/fish-containing holes with rotenone before it refilled. Then in Feb '11 I stocked CNBG and shellcracker and FH minnows at 1000/acre rate. In July '11, after the first BG spawn, I stocked F1 Tiger Bass fingerlings at 50/acre and threadfin shad. Now less than 2 years later, I am catching 2-2.5lb fat, healthy, aggressive bass. But, over the past few months I have also caught 100s of CRAPPIE!! The very fish I thought I had eliminated by poisoning before restocking my desired species. I planned my pond to be full of nothing but bass food, yet I find myself with a prolific competitor. There is nothing upstream of my pond for them to have come from. Friends have suggested that shore birds (I have 2 resident Blue Herons)introduced crappie eggs on their feet after visiting other area ponds. Really??!! What can I do short of poisoning the pond out again (didn't work the first time) and starting over? I have read that golden shiners, as fish egg eaters, can help keep crappie numbers in check (as well as help keep the bass from over-populating. I've started a war on crappie and invited my friends--all crappie caught, no matter how small, are not put back. Any other thoughts? Are golden shiners a good idea?

Sorry to hear this. It's unfortunate, but not the end of the world. It sounds like you already have a pretty solid largemouth bass fishery, so they will be your best ally. I don't believe introducing golden shiners will help in your quest to knock back the crappie population. With your bass in there, any golden shiners would eventually, and possibly very quickly, become extinct. What kind of structure do you have in the pond?

I got to play/plan while the pond was drained to fix the dam. I had the contractor take the clay for the dam repair from selected sites, creating ledges, drop-offs, underwater points and ridges as structure. Also, while the pond was down, I played in planting cover--rock piles, brush piles on selected structure, and every tree stump taken off the dam was planted in the pond for cover along a ridge, adjacent to a deep drop. Also, the pond was an old irrigation pond and the only part that was cleared was close to the dam. The upper 2/3 of the pond is a submerged stump field. Great bass habitat, both structure and cover.

Well thought out structure placement. I like it. Crappie like it too.

This won't make you feel any better but this reinforces my decision not to kill off my bullhead pond but instead try to get rid of them by natural means. If with all that you couldn't kill of crappie, what chance would I have had of killing bullheads?

Hybrid stripers have been reported as a good crappie antidote.

I wonder if rotenone ever kills off all fish? Seems to me the larger the body of water the more likely some will survive in a puddle or something. Is it possible sometimes organic matter sometimes will neutralize rotenone?

I had to steal your signature quote for my Facebook status. Good stuff.

Does fish poison also kill the eggs? Perhaps buried in the mud and protected that way.

Hydrated lime would probably kill everything, including what is dormant in the mud.

when life gives you Crappy, Have a fish fry! OR Three

Are the crappie in your lake white crappie or black crappie? If they are black crappie, you are not in as bad of shape.

I think I had some fatheads survive lime once!

Fish surviving rotenone is exactly why I always suggest Hydrated Lime...more effective, cheaper, residual benefits. From all I have researched on Rotenone is that it is only recommended as a fish poison because it targets fish and other aquatic animals and does not have as much detrimental effect on aquatic plants as Hydrated Lime.

I would purchase as large of a fyke net as you can afford and hopefully you have some friends/family willing to help you set it and pull it. You can really hammer crappie numbers with a decent sized fyke net set and pulled often. Particularly in the spring months when they are shallow...

Hammer the snot out of your crappie with the fyke net, hit the hard with angling and consider stocking advanced sized HSB. If you don't feed the fish in your pond, the HSB should be that much more effective. Limit the amount of structure and particularly vegetation for the crappies to take cover in and see how that goes...

I would be willing to bet there is a pond up stream of your lake, that has crappies in it. Or they are possibly migrating up stream...