Are the LMB keeping down the crappie population by eating the large ones, or are the tiny BG keeping down the crappie population by eating thousands of fry?
Even if only a few crappie reach the correct size to spawn, a female BCP can still produce 40,000 eggs.
If Pat has a relatively small number of trophy size bass, what is eating the 2-3" BG in the pond?
Pat, have you checked for stunting of your BG? I agree with jpsdad above where he suggests adding a few smaller bass each year. I believe that would extend the balance of your awesome pond a little while longer.
I have caught some BG this spring over a pound, the others don’t seem stunted that I can tell just a lot of them. Walking the dam I can see bunches of BG surrounding the LMB trying to spawn. This year the crappie haven’t been seen close to the bank- only LMB and BG. Last spring I caught 25 crappie 12-14” from my neighbors pond and released them in my pond. The few that I catch here are 8-10” and few and far between. I catch more bass on crappie jigs than anything. They range from 10-14” some 1-1/2# mixed in . I haven’t kept any BCP at all . We eat the LMB if under a pound plus or minus. Haven’t kept any BG to eat(don’t care for them).
Wonder if I should try to add a few breeding size WCP?
