Crappie proliferation ?

So there is a 600 acre just down the road from my house here in NC. It is private and therefore doesnt get fished very often. I have access since i am a local resident. Every tuesday they open it up for a 4 hour bass tourny. Last night was the first of this year. A 3.20 crappie was caught! Of course they took it home to eat :)

My question is, how long would it take for a good population of crappie to populate a lake this size, with no stocking. Nobody fishes for them that i am aware of. I tried about 15 years ago a few times. Only caught a few in the 6-9" range. But, that tells me they have been in the lake at least that long for sure. Mostly it is a deep clear lake, however the upper reaches are river fed and have some stained water bays. What is yalls opinion on a crappie population in a situation like this?

I may need to do some longlining to test the place out.

Longline it if they are that big they have already populated rather well our local 4 acre is over swarming with them


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Well, one would certainly think so! Thats the biggest i have ever heard of coming out of there. Could be a decent population for sure. I would think that one has spawned many times over the years at least.

One quality fish doesn’t mean there are many more of the same size swimming around. Crappie are not recommended for pond stocking as they tend to overpopulate and stunt. It is not uncommon that a single fish(s) has just made it to trophy size by luck. Three pound crappie, similar to 10 pound large mouth are caught every year by a few lucky anglers. But this is the exception, not the rule. The pond would definitely be worth checking out, but I would keep my expectations of large numbers of trophy fish low due to the infrequency of fish actually maturing into these monsters.

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Originally Posted by Inkdabber

One quality fish doesn’t mean there are many more of the same size swimming around. Crappie are not recommended for pond stocking as they tend to overpopulate and stunt. It is not uncommon that a single fish(s) has just made it to trophy size by luck. Three pound crappie, similar to 10 pound large mouth are caught every year by a few lucky anglers. But this is the exception, not the rule. The pond would definitely be worth checking out, but I would keep my expectations of large numbers of trophy fish low due to the infrequency of fish actually maturing into these monsters.

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I definitely aggree! This lake produced a 10.48 spotted bass last April! Several 10+ Largemouth have been caught from it over the last 10 years as well. As for crappie, i have not seen one over 1lb ever, from it. I was actually hoping that maybe there is a good population of eater size fish in it. I havent targeted crappie there in years, and neither have many others im aware of. I guess the potential is there for a good population. However, the shad get large fast.Not sure if the food source supports a large crappie population.

If you don't try you won't ever know. May turn out good for a while or until someone see's you pulling them out or word of mouth gets around. Keep it your secret for as long as you can.:twocents Good luck! :fish it.

600 acres is close to being a lake. I would think it is large enough to handle crappie. My friend has a 15 acre lake that is 6 years old and we have gotten several nice messes of 10-13" crappie as well as some 3 -5# bass.
Just don't let any white perch get in there. Hard to prevent if other lakes have them. Wading birds will carry eggs from one body of water to another.

No other lakes really that close. It has trout, bluegill, catfish , and all species of bass. A few crappie have been in the lake for years and years. But, all i have seen caught were tiny ones, and not very many. like i mentioned tho, that was years back. I think i will go SUnday afternoon and longline for a while. See what happens anyway. There is a great shallow flat just off the river on the upper end. Lots of bass spawn back in there. Im sure the crappie will have to be in there using it now. Or at least after the 4 days of warm weather starting tomorrow.

I would think that a pond being the size of 1 sq mile would be plenty big enough to support a crappie population of some size. The only way youre gonna know is to fish it. Longlining during the spawn (another month at the most) will tell you what's there. Personally, I'd fish the upper end where the stain is if I fished it.

Based on the size of bass you described, I'd say they control the population! You will be surprised by what has been caught out of some bodies of water. 600 acres and deep water should be manageable for crappie without them taking over especially if there is a good population of bass.