Thread: What kind of structure to put in pond?

It more or less depends on what you have on hand or what you want to use and how much to spend on fish structure.The fish don't care a whole lot as long as they have some type of structure to relate to. As a rule of thumb place some wood structure in the shallow parts and some PVC longer lasting structure in the deeper water. Fish like points so if you have a point start there and go from shallow to deeper water there with your fish habitat. And more habitat the better.

I hate to tell you this....but it is a terrible idea to put Crappie in a small pond. MAJOR DISASTER.
They are a reproducing nightmare, and will overpopulate and stunt the pond in no time. Even black crappie are not recommended. I would not do Crappie in less than 100 acres in the North.
No reputable pond management company or fish farm would tell you to do this either...it would be a MAJOR daily affair to try and make something like this work....you need at least a one year (2 spawns) for minnows or baitfish to build a population first, but normally after the first crappie spawn, the growing fry of Crappie from that first massive spawn will decimate the available food.
You need to contact someone in your area to help you develop a good sustainable pond.

As for cover....you need stacked pallets in shallower water for minnow or baitfish spawning areas....then alot of Christmas trees shallow for minnows and baitfish to hide....once you built a huge "food" population, you can add other cover for predators.

Sorry needed to add...
It is almost impossible to sex crappie 100% correctly...all you need is 1 mistake and your pond is shot!
��
Best snag proof cover is pvc...it will also last almost forever. The only drawback is it is not biodegradable and offers nothing back into the beginning food chain for the zooplankton, etc.
You can put wood limbs in the middle and pvc on the outside, or do the milk crate stacks with wood in it...I would build pvc buckets and then drop wood "laydowns" around it.

No need to apologize, great info! I'll definitely reconsider

Sir Intimidator is correct. Both bluegills and crappie are PROLIFIC breeders, crappie often FAR more so. Unless you have a BIG pond OR stock it heavily with baitfish and establish a predator heavy environment (difficult to do ) the crappies will simply rapidly out breed everything else in the pond and overwhelm it, leaving you with a zillion 3-5" crappies after eating most of the predator`s fry and juveniles. Am not saying that they aren`t cannibals (luckily, they ARE !) but for every 9+" crappie in your pond there will be 50 stunted 1s....not an "ideal" fishery !

According to your pond's make-up, you can do a cool water species pond if it is shaded, deep, or cool spring or well fed, and doesn't boil in summer.
A warm water pond kinda limits you to bream, Largemouth, and Cats...and some different hybrids that are stocked.
But you still need to stock the minnows or baitfish and let the spawn twice before adding the predators.
Most hybrids won't produce offspring, but they can if a parent species is added...Saugeye can produce offspring with a parent Walleye or Sauger....that's why they are not stocked in brood systems...they can degrade the pure blood lines.
Other hybrids have been proven to do the same.

Originally Posted by INTIMIDATOR

According to your pond's make-up, you can do a cool water species pond if it is shaded, deep, or cool spring or well fed, and doesn't boil in summer.
A warm water pond kinda limits you to bream, Largemouth, and Cats...and some different hybrids that are stocked.
But you still need to stock the minnows or baitfish and let the spawn twice before adding the predators.
Most hybrids won't produce offspring, but they can if a parent species is added...Saugeye can produce offspring with a parent Walleye or Sauger....that's why they are not stocked in brood systems...they can degrade the pure blood lines.
Other hybrids have been proven to do the same.

I've already got a good deal of Catfish, Bluegill and bass. Most Cats are between 12-30 inches and up to 9 pounds. Most Bass are between 1-4 pounds and bream get up to 10 inches. theres a large population of minnows too.
The pond is over 15 years old, but I've only lived here for 5 years

Originally Posted by KYfishing

I've already got a good deal of Catfish, Bluegill and bass. Most Cats are between 12-30 inches and up to 9 pounds. Most Bass are between 1-4 pounds and bream get up to 10 inches. theres a large population of minnows too.
The pond is over 15 years old, but I've only lived here for 5 years

Nice setup...Congrats!

Just some Info for all....just remember, bream are food....the big ones are for you and the little ones are for the Bass and Cats to take pressure off the minnows. You can't let the Bull Bream get out of control or the "Bass Pond" Balance will get out of wack...it is easier to control The Bass/Cat balance and their sizes, if you balance the bream to the small side.