crappie poulations

[bama647]

hey guys ive been fishing a little lake latley about 100 acres maybe with some very deep water in places (45 ft plus). first few times i was there i done pretty good caught some real nice sized crappie. last 3 trips ive caught none at all. theres hardley anyone who fishes at this lake. Anyway do you think its possible for there to be lack of numbers of crappie at this lake. i would think that with not many people fishing it that it would be over poputated if anything. in fact ive caught probably 40 fish here and none were throwbacks

[billr12]

I would guess that the fish are there and you just have to find them. They won't stay in the exact same spot from trip to trip. Try moving around and trying different depths with different baits. I would try artificial baits then minnows if nothing turned up.

[newlite]

Could be they are black crappie and are not spawning in that lake.I have a
farm pond somebody stocked a few years ago and I never ever caught a small one.Come to find out they were black crappie and I think we have caught every last one of them.So the ? is will black crappie spawn in an old farm pond? Are the ones you have been catching black or white.Good topic!

[bama647]

im not real sure if they are black or white. ive tried numerouse jigs and havent had any luck with them. i have moved around quite a bit and havent found any other spot thats holding fish. theres a diffinate lack of structure there and im planning on adding some of my own.

heres one that ive caught there dont know if its black or white?

[markd85]

I believe the big one is a white as well as the one to the right of it. The one on the farthest right is a black so, you have a mix of both there.

[Crappie Xtreme]

The big is a white the third from the left a black and the far right is a black the rest from this angle look like whites. But I'm trying to figure out what kind of crappie that one is that is facing the camera LOL.

Crappie X.

[turkeyfootnc]

The big one is a white crappie. The one on the right end is a black crappie. The easiest way for me to tell the difference is white crappie have vertical dark bars as black crappie have black spots scattered all over.

As far as no crappie in the lake, it could be the crappie have stunted(have taken over, and will not have much to eat) and possibly died.

[CrappiePappy]

Looking at their markings, right to left in the picture, I see two fish that are Black Crappie ... the third fish, and the last one on the right (as Mark pointed out). The 4th one is a toss up, and the 8th one (lying against the back of Big Momma) isn't visable enough to tell.

A 100acre lake/pond is large enough to sustain a Crappie population, and the depth allows for them to escape the Summer heat. I see, also, that you have a Bluegill on your stringer. Are there any "larger predator species" in this lake ?? It should contain Bass and Channel Catfish, for a well rounded mixture .... where they all feed on each other, and control the numbers. The WORST thing that could be introduced, or already in this lake, is a Shad species.
From the looks of the fish in the picture, both species are represented ... but, the White Crappie seem to have the dominant numbers. Placing cover in this lake may help concentrate their numbers into that area/spot .... but, I'd be careful about adding anything that could/would aid them in spawning (shallow/protected cover), as this might create a numbers imbalance. ... cp

[bama647]

thanks folks,im gonna keep after them because i know there some bigens in there somewhere. ive caught alot of small bass in there cp but havent seen the first cat yet. that big one in the pic was 161/2 in so im thinkin theres some bigger ones in there.