crappie pond management

[bowtechbandit]

i have a pond that is i little over 1 acre and is 14' deep on the deep end by the dam. when we bought the place i cleaned out all the bass that i could, hundreds of them over the years. during covid I put 75 grown crappie in it. last spring i caught a few keepers i assume the ones i stocked and several smaller ones not big enough to keep. this year me me and the kids have Taken out 53 last weekend and 10 another day. i thought that was probably good for the year. yesterday eve out of curiousity I tried them and got 15 in 20 casts. that makes me think i should take more out. what do yall think? how many per year should i take out?

there are still bass in the pond we have cleaned a couple this year. i have put in 4-5 in the 4# range from a private lake with good genetics. we dont catch as many anymore but usually they are good ones when we do. i have also put some coppernose brim in which we kept out about 25 this spring.

[Javelin]

Crappie are HORRIBLE in a pond. They are very prolific spawners and you probably have about 30,000 already in that pond. They will become stunted and will get to where they stay tiny forever. If you had other species of fish, they would eat all those offspring. Crappie need at least a few hundred acres. If you dont believe me call Dr. Billy Higgenbotham from TAMU

[bullets13]

Everything I've ever read says you need at least 10 acres to even come close to a healthy crappie population. I had a neighbor stock a few in his 3/4 acre pond a couple years back and the next thing we knew it was full of paper thin 6-inch crappie. The bass and the catfish suffered as well.

[bowtechbandit]

Crappie are HORRIBLE in a pond. They are very prolific spawners and you probably have about 30,000 already in that pond. They will become stunted and will get to where they stay tiny forever. If you had other species of fish, they would eat all those offspring. Crappie need at least a few hundred acres. If you dont believe me call Dr. Billy Higgenbotham from TAMU

we do have bass. yeah, I dont dont your answer, i figured if we kept a bunch every year we could keep them in check.

[bowtechbandit]

Everything I've ever read says you need at least 10 acres to even come close to a healthy crappie population. I had a neighbor stock a few in his 3/4 acre pond a couple years back and the next thing we knew it was full of paper thin 6-inch crappie. The bass and the catfish suffered as well.

I really thought you could keep the numbers in check by keeping them.

[bowhntrmatt]

At this point, they are already in there, so just start cleaning every one you catch. You will never catch them all with just rod and reel.

[denimdeerslayer]

Crappie lease!!!

[Plan B]

I read an article you can stock a few hybrid striped bass to control the crappie population and have a bonus fish to catch.

[bowtechbandit]

I read an article you can stock a few hybrid striped bass to control the crappie population and have a bonus fish to catch.

good idea

[eradicator]

Keep every one you catch. Fish a lot. Crappie tacos all the time!

[McClain]

This is not my area of expertise but I know it’s not a good idea to stock small ponds with crappie as said above. It’s virtually impossible to manage crappie in small ponds. They either get overpopulated and stunt or disappear. It’s best to concentrate on other species suitable for small ponds.

[bboswell]

Crappie in small Ponds

Heard forever that it’s a terrible idea but sure have caught some nice one out of 1 acre (and a LOT less) ponds!

[Abctx]

Rotenone it, and start over. As mentioned, that pond is too small for crappie. Re-stock with bluegill and red-ear. Wait 1-1/2 to 2 years, put in 25-50 bass. Maybe, don’t put in any bass at all, and just keep all the big bluegill/red-ear you catch.

You’ll have “catchable” bluegill within 8-12 months of starting over.

[eradicator]

Rotenone it, and start over. As mentioned, that pond is too small for crappie. Re-stock with bluegill and red-ear. Wait 1-1/2 to 2 years, put in 25-50 bass. Maybe, don’t put in any bass at all, and just keep all the big bluegill/red-ear you catch.

You’ll have “catchable” bluegill within 8-12 months of starting over.

You will have the issue as crappie if theres nothing to eat said bluegill, perch, etc.....

[mjhaverkamp]

Throw a couple 15 - 20 lb flatheads in there, they will eat everything in sight.