Here is some info.

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=92447#Post92447 Crappie archive – a lot there


Very hard to have a good pond/lake (under 40 acres) with crappie (black , white or hybrids) as they all overpopulate in time. There is a method but it does not involve LMB and BG. There are exceptions to everything and some ponds do have crappie that seem to do ok with LMB and BG. Problem is we can't so far tell what it is about those ponds that make them work. Here is the archive link on crappie and an excerpt on the plan that seems to be working.

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=92447#Post92447

From one of the linked threads on Crappie. Now several yeas old. BC= black crappie in this post. Jeff now works with Shawn Banks.

Southeastern Pond Management reports in its client newsletter ( see link to newsletter
http://www.sepond.com/images/news/FishTales/sepondfall07.pdf ) excellent success (so far) with Crappie in Southern ponds. This is the same company that one of our PB Convention speakers (Dr. Jeff Slipke) works for. He also provided the PB Forum through Dave Willis info on SMB in Southern ponds. The newsletter contains an article on that as well.

Back to the article on Crappie. With research from reservoirs on HSB feeding they found what we know that the HSB ate a lot of TShad. They also found that HSB eat a lot of young crappie. With that info they decided to try that application on some test ponds. They started with a clean pond and added TShad , GShiners and FH in the fall. The next spring they stocked BC fingerlings followed by HSB in the fall. Over the next 4 years they saw fast growth among the crappie with little crappie recruitment. No sign of the usual problems with crappie in ponds. They then created more ponds like the first and report that electrofishing results are very promising - slab crappie with no overpopulation and - yes the HSB are doing well. A pic of one of the HSB appears to be about 8 lbs. A pic of one of the crappie looks to be about 1.5 to 2 lbs.

Update - additional info on this idea -

North American Journal of Fisheries Management
Fish Community Response to Hybrid Striped Bass Introduction in Small Warmwater Impoundments
J. Wesley Neal*, Richard L. Noble, and James A. Rice


Results from this study suggest hybrid striped bass may have consumed enough small black crappies to prevent overpopulation without eliminating recruitment. However, further study is warranted using a larger number of ponds and differing conditions. If these results can be replicated, enhancing crappie fisheries while simultaneously creating a hybrid striped bass fisheries would be a favorable alternative to complete pond reclamation.