Pond crappie
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
"Anglers are born honest,
but they get over it." - Ed Zern