Thread: Illinois Pond Management

Check out the pond boss magazine . There may be a forum of it online.I would give extra attention to creating good bluegill spawning areas and block access to them from both water and shore. Please read Missouri state report about negative effect of Hybrid Bluegill.

Trophy pond is a new sponsor here, id call them. their logo is at the bottom of this page.

White crappie will over take a pond in no time but black crappies fare much better. What about LMB and some channel cats to keep the crappies from overtaking of a pond and stunting the fish.

Might want to talk to the states biologist Mike Mounce. His number is 217 345 2420. He is willing to help anyone out that have concerns about developing a fishery.

As stated above stock black crappie instead of whites.

My passion is for crappie and bluegill. Really not a fan of catfishing. Largemouth are OK but would prefer walleye as a predator to manage crappie. Ill give Mike Mounce a call. Since the pond hasn't been designed yet, Im hoping there's a way to design it to help with management.

Originally Posted by jaytmann

My passion is for crappie and bluegill. Really not a fan of catfishing. Largemouth are OK but would prefer walleye as a predator to manage crappie. Ill give Mike Mounce a call. Since the pond hasn't been designed yet, Im hoping there's a way to design it to help with management.

Don't know where you are at but herrman brothers seem to have it figured out.they are on heartlandoutdoors.com a lot showing their successes. Go to hbpondmanagement.com and their properties giantgooseranch.com.

I'm in south central Il and have walleye in my pond. They've done incredibly well. Stocked them at 5" last Dec(2013),and they're now 14". I also had a huge forage base of fathead minnows for them to grow quickly on. I stocked smallmouth at the same time--2", and they're now a healthy 10". I added adult yellow perch and golden shiners this December. I got all my fish except the perch and shiners from Logan Hollow fish Farm and could not be more satisfied with them. You can only get walleye in the winter, and they have a pretty small mouth gape to handle crappie. You might consider hybrid striped bass as a predator for the crappies if you're bent on having them.