Rah,
I have found that the MO Conservation Dept differs on many aspects of pond management to what I find experienced PB experts talking about. Don't get me wrong, I think Missouri has one of the best, if not "the best", conservation departments in the US. My suspicion is that the MOCODept caters to the "stock it and leave it" group much more than the mild pond experimentalist, let alone the extremist.
I fished a stocked, supplement pellet fed, and managed CC pond once that had 6 to 10 pound CC. This pond had numerous LMB, but not a one was caught larger than 12 inches or so. I believe they were overpopulated and stunted. The 5 CC that I caught that morning were all caught using large Mepps spinners. These fish were accustomed to eating LMB as forage to fill out their diet.
With that said, Crappie could work, but their deep body may not be as advantageous as the LMB to be eaten by the CC. I would think that you would have to grow the CC out to at least a pound or two on minnows before introducing the Crappie and then stock larger crappie to spawn the forage. Growing the CC on minnows would get them used to chasing down there food, once the minnows were taken away, the crappie YOY would be the next best thing.
Just my two cents in a ten dollar bag.
