Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations Identify this fish?

A small mouth bass?

Black crappie.

+1 BCP

Well damn. This is an undesirable fish to have in a pond. Thanks for identifying it for me.

Crappie can work well in ponds with the correct habitat and plenty of small & medium bass predation of their offspring.

So far I have only seen a TON of bluegill and a few of these black crappie. No sign of bass. Is there a difference between bluegill and a bluegill with yellow belly?

blue gill with a yellow belly is probably a male BG in breeding colors.

Many BG with a yellow belly are females whereas those with copper or orangeish colored 'bellies' are males.

now that you point that out , you are correct., I was really just thinking brightly colored belly not the actual color. Females do tend to have yellowish "bellies" and not as bright

Males tend to be more orange or copper colored and "can" be more bright when in spawn colors.

On the upside...that's not a bad size crappie...unless you wear size 4 boots!

Size 12, actually.

Invite some friends over for a Crappie Eradication Party. Tell 'em to bring cantaloupe and hush puppies. Crappie is the flounder of fresh water. Nothing tastes better. I'll bring the sweet tea.

While trying to assess and decide whether or not to kill the fish and start over or not, I'm puzzled by an observation. Obviously I should seine the pond in order to have a better idea of what is in there; but of the countless fish I've caught so far, most of them are bluegill of *this* size or smaller. If crappie are the problem breeders I have read about, wouldn't I have seen young crappie?

Perhaps you have an overpopulation of BG???

Hello Willbilly. I rarely catch BCP fishing for SF using baits as I see in the photo above. I use smaller fatheads on a jig for crappies. Seems like I have the best luck on a pink/white combination colored jig.

If they are very active I just cast and retrieve, when they are not so active I'll slow the retrieve under a slip-bobber adjusting it until I find the right depth, but always keep it moving.

Good luck, that's a nice crappie in the first photo!

willbilly i live in Roanoke va what and am renovating a 1 1/2 acrepond that is 20 years old what fish type should i count as undesirable

Hi Fresh Start. I am by no means an expert, but I found a very instructive PDF that the state of Tennessee provides regarding pond management. The material labled Black Crappie as an undesirable fish for ponds (especially when mixed with Bass) because it breeds before Bass and can overpopulate a pond's available food resources.

Other fish this PDF indicated as undesirable were White Crappie, Yellow bullhead, Black bullhead, Shad, and Golden Shiners.