Robbor,

I've managed two different ponds for trophy black crappie and I think you may be looking at this from the wrong angle. If indeed you are trying to raise trophy black crappie you need to keep in mind that black crappie are more adapted to utilizing invertebrate forage base than their white crappie cousins. Consequently, your empahasis on stocking shad and/or bluegill will provide direct competition with your crappie, especially your first year crappie. Panfish are short-lived, therefore if you want to raise a three-pound crappie it has to be growing full tilt from the get go. Your crappie will be competing with what will likely be a high density of either bluegill or shad and will start growing slowly, then will be forced to utilize fish for forage instead of preferred invertebrate forage such as daphnia magna or other big zooplankton as they grow older.

The best pond we have for trophy crappie has only black crappie and largemouth bass. No harvest of LMB is allowed. The bass are poor utilizers of plankton and keep YOY crappie in check leaving lots of protein available for the survivors. This landowner also regularly monitors year-class strength and is not afraid to put angling pressure on slot size crappie such as 7-11 inchers. Black crappie in this pond reach a size of 13 inches in their fourth growing season and two-pounders are common. Good, clear water is a must for blacks so make sure your pond has only minimal suspended silt, although fertilizing for algae blooms is fine.

By the way, if your black crappie want to eat fish, the young-of-the-year largemouth slide down just fine.

Holding a redear sunfish is like running with scissors.