IMO something is wrong with the balance in your pond if you truly have ""i see minnows all over the place during the summer"". In a balanced pond after 3 yrs with LMB in the pond,, the fathead minnnows should be in very short supply if the bass are at proper numbers and growing well. Bass typically eliminate all the FHM after the 2nd or 3rd yr. Often when the first spawn of bass is at the end of their 1st summer is when the all fatheads finally disappear. Rarely does it take 4 yrs for bass to eliminate the fatheads. There are several possible reasons: 1. the minnows are not fathead minnows but small BG. 2. the 1st stocked fingerling bass had poor survival. 3. the stocked bass have not spawned yet. 4. tremendous amounts of weeds are protecting the FHM and you will have issues later with too many BG surviving and overpopulating. IMO your first step is to verify if the abundant "minnows" are truly fatheads or small bluegill. Re evaluate and identify the small fish numbers in spring before the bass spawn. The second step is to determine if the LMB are at proper density compared to the number of bass and BG stocked. To few bass will require extra management. It is certain you do not have too many bass due to what you estimate is an abundance of small fish. High numbers of bass will eliminate the FHM in the first year.
Regardless of all the above,,, wait at least until you see the first crop of spawned bass reach spawning size and then re-evaluate your fishery balance before adding any crappie.
Last edited by Bill Cody; 02/08/14 12:43 PM.
