Does Pond size really matter?

[RetiredRR]

This is a photo of a small pond that I have managed for 10 years for a neighbor.
You can see the grass line and can see where the water line is when the pond
is full. The water line never gets higher due to the overflow area being large
enough to handle run off. This pond has never been stocked with bass. I stocked
it with channel cats, blue gill, warmouth and crappie 10 years ago and to stop
the level from getting lower than it is now, a private well supplies water due to
livestock utilizing the pond for drinking water. I have harvested channel cat in
the 10 & 15 lb range and they are very healthy. Crappie up to 3 1/2 lbs at a rate
most would argue with. I have witnessed their grandkids catching crappie numerous
times that I could hardly believe. When I stocked the crappie 10 years ago, I put
15 crappie in ranging from 3/4 lb to 1 1/2 lbs. In 10 years, hundreds of crappie
have been harvested as well as numerous channel cats. Very few gill and warmouth
have been harvested for consumption. I did stock 10 lbs of fathead minnows one
time. I do feed floating fish food periodically and test it often to check on the
health of the fish. The crappie from this little pond are very good eating and the
channel cat on a fly rod are very good eating too. The depth of the pond is 16' when
full. Last year it got a little lower than this before they turned the pump on. The
livestock keep it a little stirred up, but the fishin' is always good.

[CrappiePappy]

RRR ... most biologists will say it's not a good idea to stock a pond with Crappie, if the pond is smaller than 50 acres (& some will say not less than 100 acres). And even ponds of those sizes, it's normally stated that one should use Black Crappie for stock, since White Crappie tend to spawn in greater numbers (& quickly overpopulate the pond, & stunt ).

In the case of your pond ... it appears that the biomass is self regulating enough to keep turning out decent fish. And it may continue to do so, as long as there's enough top end predators to keep the numbers in check.

I'm just curious, but ... I thought you Texans called them "tanks", not "ponds"

... cp

[RetiredRR]

I'll fess up, I'm a little guilty of tryin' to be politically correct. When I lived in Oklahoma as a youngster, they were tanks or stock tanks, unless
they were a slough....lol, couldn't help myself on that one. Yes Sir, here in Texas most of us do call them tanks, or stock tanks. As you may
be aware, a lot of folks have gotten older up North and the winters get more severe and lots of folks move down here amoungst us and enjoy
milder winters. I don't blame them at all. I have a number of good friends from Wisconsin and Michigan and we get along famously. We do
tease each other and enjoy pullin' each others leg from time to time. I've had opportunities to go up North and visit their stompin' grounds
when the weather is hospitable. Beautiful country. Some folks talk a little funny, but I been told the same thing. May be the altitude or
atmosphere, I don't know.
LOL

[RetiredRR]

These came out of that little pond.
The neighbors grandkids are very predatory grandkids and
they do a good job of harvestin' crappie from the pond.
I help just enough to keep the tummy happy.
I have released a number of very big females full of eggs.

[Eager Beaver]

How many acres is this pond and is it always that color of water. It doesn't look like the sunlight could penetrate the water as colored as it is. EB

[RetiredRR]

100' wide by 250' long, and when the cows go swimmin' it does muddy up some. In the winter it clears up and has lots of sun penetration.
Numerous cedar trees, willow tree trunks and wooden pallets cover the bottom. When I fed yesterday the very small minnows and sunfish
hit the surface first, followed by the gill and the channel cats. When they hear the pellets hit the water, it's like a dinner bell ringing. I have
caught a few crappie that had pellets (floating fish food) in their stomachs, but not much. They mostly feed on the minnows and small
sunfish. When the neighbors grandkids fish, they always have a good supply of baby shad in "electric chicken" color cause I keep 'em supplied.
The pond is approx. 250 yards from my home and you can hear 'em holler when they catch a fish.

[SLABMAGNET]

Those are great fish, ive caught quite a few nice ones out of ponds like that.