Pond crappie

[Roberta]

There have been a number of discussions here on whether or not crappie can be successfully raised in a small pond. Friday, we were fishing a pond that belongs to one of Doug's relatives - about 1/2 acre , 15 feet deep in the middle, with two fountains. The main structures are a stationary dock and a willow that grows about twenty feet out over and into the pond, plus a lot of grass beds.

My father-in-law was fishing 4" shiners under a bobber, Doug was mainly fishing 2"-3" tubes, and I was throwing hard baits for bass. All three of us caught crappie between 12 1/2 and 14 inches in length, with my father-in-law catching the largest on one of those big shiners. Doug caught a qualifyer (Ohio requires a minimum of 13": for a pin) on a small tube and I caught a 12 1/2" on a 3" Rapala sinking shad. We also caught numerous bass and some huge gills.

Hardly anyone takes fish out of this pond, but they seem to keep growing, feeding on each other's fry. There are also some big cats in this pond, though their other pond has some real behemoths in it.

Just thought it was worth mentioning since the concensus has been that crappie will always overpopulate a pond. Maybe not. - Roberta

[CrappiePappy]

or maybe, as you said, "hardly anyone takes fish out of this pond" .... so they maintain a viable balance on their own (survival of the biggest). Big Cats and Bass will insure big gills and Crappie ... but, only if the balance is maintained. Remove the big predators, and the balance tips. Also, adding forage fish (minnows, shad) to "feed" the fish (with the intent of making them even "bigger") will throw the balance out of whack ... the larger predator fish (Bass/Cats) prefer the soft rayed forage fish, and may revert to feeding on them ... allowing the Crappie and Gills to build up in numbers, rather than size.
You may have fished this pond at it's balance peak ... or caught it under ideal conditions. Or, as you suggest, this pond may just be a "consensus breaker" ... defying the odds. But, "one monkey don't stop no show" .... and many a small body of water has been ruined by the addition of certain species of fish, especially Crappie. Balance is the key .... and constant removal of numbers of smaller fish, as well as C&R of the larger ones, can help maintain that balance.

OK, Roberta ....... so where's the pictures ?? ............. cp

[blufloyd]

Wonder if the fountain inlets keep populations down. A couple industrial ponds I used to go to had big gills and goldfish maybe other stuff too but never saw small fry. They both had 15-20 foot high spray fountains. Maybe higher. A 20 year old memory, wonder if I should go see what's there now? Probably a fence...

[Roberta]

>>>>OK, Roberta ....... so where's the pictures ?? <<<

Inside the disposable camera. The owner is talking about adding something to get the bass bigger and I'm afraid he'll ruin it. - Roberta

[speediib]

the owner can ask for assistance from wdlf or the dnr depening on were you live. they can tell you the best thing to do for the purpose you want in the pond whether it for catfish bass or crappie. or for all of them. they are a valuable resource available and highly underutilized

[Roberta]

I suspect the owner will do whatever he wants to do.We don't know him well enough to have any influence.

[Stingrayg4]

My father in law has three ponds on his property. One of them is a consistant source of nice sized crappie & bass. I know for a fact that there's at least one monster catfish in there as well, as I've seen it hooked several times, a few times it's gotten all the way to the shore, but in all cases it breaks the line and escapes, no one has ever managed to land it. I suspect that it's mostly responsible for keeping the population of smaller fish down in that particular pond.

-S

[Rangersedge]

Someone here once directed me to www.pondboss.com. It is a great pond / fish management type website. I hang out there too and have directed people there to here. Both great sites for different purposes.

Anyway, crappie in a pond is a constant topic of discussion with almost all the professionals (biologists and such) recommending against it. Most agree that can be done if maintain a high level of other predators, have clear water, and etc. so that bass and such can keep the crappie in check. Once they are out of control, they can become a major problem. It seems like Bob Lusk tells of a lake that was overpopulated with stunted crappie. They were faced with some different options. Considered killing all the fish off, but went with stocking hybrid striped bass which wound up saving money, controlling the crappie (in conjunction with stocking of adult largemouth bass and bluegill), and offering some great sporting opportunities also...

FWIW: The biggest crappie I've ever caught (several 17"+ as measured against my arm - which I later measured with a tape measure to double check) were from one farm pond. I should have kept and had them mounted... At that point in time, it had the right combination of food, predators, and etc. I haven't caught a decent crappie in that pond since and a neighboring farm pond is full of little ones (need to drain and restock without crappie, but it is a source of water for cattle).

[lee s.]

Interesting thread you got going here Roberta. Around her there seems to not be much crappie planting in farm ponds.....a bit, but not much. Some put just bass thinking they will get big bass and no nusiance fish. However the small bass fill THAT niche quite nicely. There get to be a couple grand size bass, but danged few.
Balance DOES seem the key. :-)
.....lee s.
PS-Got a map? ;-)

[Roberta]

>>PS-Got a map? ;-)<<

Yep, but you have to figure out how to get past their two Rottweilers. Otherwise, I'd be down there a LOT! - Roberta