big_pond, i purchased my 8 acre lake in va just over a year ago. it was built 22 years ago and stocked at that time with black crappie, bass, bluegill and a few channel cats. it was never managed and rarely fished for all those 20 years. as expected, it was full of stunted, skinney bass when i began to fish it. but all those bass DID keep the crappie in check. my family has fished the lake heavily for the past 16 months, and have removed nearly 200 bass. we have only caught about a dozen crappie though. i don't know if wipers, blue cats or flat heads will effectively control crappie, but i have read several times on this site that large numbers of bass often will. my lake has shown this to be true. good luck with your new project, jb
