I have two ponds both are around an acre each. I have put crappie in both ponds in the past and they seem to never reproduce, the ones I put in there grow and we catch and eat but I always have to go to a lake near me to replenish my ponds. I have some fairly good sized bass in the ponds, 3-6lbs, do you think they keep the crappie population down? The crappie that I put in the ponds are around 5-6 inches, seems like they grow pretty good just don't reproduce. What is the secret to maintaining a balance of crappie, bass, bluegill and catfish in small ponds or is there such a thing? I am located in SE Mo.

Thanks,
Tom

with no structure for them to spawn in they will not reproduce. I have the same problem in a pond in my area. Its a shame too cause the pond has MONSTER crappie in it. Last year i caught a 2 lb crappie out of it. Not catching any small ones at all. If there are catfish in there then mostdefenitely they are keeping your population down. Put in some some stake beds some in 2 ft of water and some in deeper water. The shallow ones will give them a place to spawn and the deeper ones will give the hatch a place to hide from bigger fish.

It is hard too for crappie and other fish like bass and cats to coexist in a pond that small and have them all flourish.

I have heard and read in several places that ponds need to be 40 acres + for a perfect environment. Now I know there are some exceptions to this, we all have small ponds that DO have both so it CAN work. But you are fighting an uphill battle.

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I just built an acre and a half pond that will have 15 feet of water in about half of it. I have ordered 3 dump trucks of creek gravel to mix with 20 tons of sand to put in the shallow end. I cut two med sized oak trees that fellover into the water, and have 10 5gal. buckets that I plan to put cedar trees in with cement. I hope this will keep them upright and in the part of the pond that I want them. The water should be clear most of the time since the pond is in the woods on real rocky ground with heavy grass where the run off will come from. Should I be doing anything else????

jimmydee... if you want to learn more about ponds, go to www.pondboss.com and they can give you more information than you'll ever need. Its the best site on the internet for folks wanting to do a pond or maintain one with fish. Good luck.
fk

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Fishaking: WOW!!!!! Blew my mind. A TON on info. Thanks for the help. I'll take me a eek to get "unconfused" with all the ino. Again, Thanks. Jimmydee