Goldfish and crayfish can be origin of turbidity...I'm managing 4 ponds currently with dense Northern Crayfish populations which have reduced visibility down to 1-2" in one extreme case - others are around 12". These have all historically been 24-36" visibility ponds - something is definitely going on. All vegetation has been denuded, I fear we're getting set up for a kill event.

In my experience, SMB do not manage Northern Crayfish populations - their top end I believe exceeds SMB gape to prey upon, so adults are safe to continue reproducing. My largest N crays can top 5-6" with claws that are 1.5"+ long. We are trapping like crazy with limited impact on clarity but I suspect the ultimate solution will be stocking single sex LMB. Will be sourcing males from Shawn McNulty at American Sportfish this winter. I feel male is the safest way to go in order to protect panfish population as they will top out around 2 lbs. Using them only as crayfish management devices - I don't need 5-6 lb females hammering my trophy YP, RES, BG, etc. Once we get on top of the crayfish we will begin culling the LMB one by one until the right number for ongoing cray management is achieved.

For the record, I am shocked that even my main pond with dense HSB, SMB, YP, RES, HBCP populations can't handle the cray population. Visibility here is still 24", but that's half normal this time of year. I'm really hesitant to stock LMB in my cool water species fishery, but I trust Shawn to sex the LMB to ensure no reproduction.

Sorry for the hijack - but wanted to report this as it could be useful for many.

Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after. ~ Henry David Thoreau

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