Hello and thank you for being such a great resource for pond management. I am a new member and subscriber to the magazine and have enjoyed searching and reading all the great topics.

I have just leased a 30 acre pond that is roughly 40 years old from what I have researched. There is an abundance of black crappie and I am trying to find out the best methods to manage it for growing larger crappie. Some facts about the pond are below.

the pond
- 30 acres
- located in central va
- deepest part is about 8-10'
- average is around 6'
- has roughly 5-8 acres of lilly pads
- water clarity is 2-4' on average
- my guest and I are the only ones who fish it

the fishing
- on average trip of 3-4 hours we catch 50-80 crappie
- they average around 1 lb ea!and look nice and thick at the shoulders
- we have caught very few thin small crappie
- largest we have caught is 1 lb 7 oz
- the bass are stunted for sure. all have been between 8-12" pretty thin. I haven't targeted bass yet as this is only a by-catch from crappie fishing.
- the bream are pretty nice as well. average is probably 8-10 ounces. these too are by-catch of crappie fishing.

So, am I asking for too much to grow larger crappie?? I have a 5 year lease with a 5 year renewal available and would love to grow some 2 lb plus crappie if possible. I also don't want to mess up a good thing that seems to be naturally occurring with little to no fishing pressure in the recent years. Im willing and able to dedicate the resources to do so if there is any hope in growing these things. Thanks again for all the great info and look forward to your responses!

Brian