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So I have a very small pond that I would like to put a few crappie in. There's a local lake only about 7 miles from my house thats got a few Crappie. that I was gonna pop em in a cooler of water and race back home, I know they'd take over the pond so I was only gonna put male or female in it depending on how many I catch.
Anyway, I'd like to put some snag proof structure in it and was wondering what kind? I've seen a lot of diy structure on here but don't know what kind.
Any advice?
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.:twocents
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!
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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.
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.Quote:
Originally Posted by INTIMIDATOR
The pond is over 15 years old, but I've only lived here for 5 years
Nice setup...Congrats!Quote:
Originally Posted by KYfishing
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.
would the bass hold in the structure you mentioned?Quote:
Originally Posted by INTIMIDATOR
Yep...small Bass will hide from Cats or Big Bass...Big Bass will use big or thick cover as ambush points.Quote:
Originally Posted by KYfishing
All of this cover has been great for Bass....the crates are full of bricks on the bottom, and wood in the upper crates. They hold algae and zooplankton, which holds minnows and bait, which attracts Bass.
Bass like big cover, for shadows in sun, or to ambush from. You can put groups one 8 inch black plastic tube in a bucket of concrete, or 6 inch pvc...whatever you can find. My limbs were osage orange...and they weighed a ton...took 2 of us to drop, but they will last forever like pvc...but since they are natural they draw more microorganisms.
Both PVC AND Osage Orange (Hedge Apple) have 1 thing in common: your kids and your grandkids will be fishing on them and possibly your great grandkids...think of them as `forever` cover because they are real close to that...
I would use driven wood stake beds for a shallow pond . How are you going to separate the sexes on your Crappie ? If you keep several big Bass and/or Flathead Catfish they won't over populate as quick . Fish them heavy removing small ones can help. But most do not recommend Crappie for small ponds
This is why I tell everyone to contact a Pond Management Specialist or someone who has experience with them in their area! If you have no experience with Ponds or their ecosystems, you can throw it out of wack quickly, and waste a lot of time and money.Quote:
Originally Posted by NIMROD
Stake beds would be ideal in a shallow pond that is shady, but a Shallow pond that gets a lot of sun needs large cover that casts a shadow, that fish can retreat to.
One of the biggest problems with ponds are fish that are stressed by heat and then cannot get out of the sunlight....Shade can offer several degrees less than other water.
Deep ponds offer different options also, same with clear ponds, fertile ponds, well filled, creek filled, or rain filled...or ponds with aerators or flow. If the pond has vegetation, then another factor comes into play, and that leads you to other options....Each type of pond, JUST LIKE A LAKE, RIVER, ETC, has a optimum type of cover. That's why you need understanding of the specific pond...also, Crappie cover differs from Cat or Bass cover....and PVC is ALOT easier to fish than any type of wood....but if your smart and surround long lasting wood with PVC, you get the best of both.
IMHO, I prefer to put in cover that you will not have to go back and recover in a lifetime....I prefer Big or Long lasting wood, over thin wood or stakes that degrade quickly...I prefer Cedar or other longer lasting brush/branches over Christmas trees....but, if that is all you have, it is better than nothing...just remember that it needs to be replaced to have optimum fishing and ecosystem health.
Most fishermen that add cover, really don't care what the cause/effect of cover is, or how it works...The main thing that people need to understand is that cover increases the fish holding capability of an ecosystem, and increases the health of the ecosystem by improving the basic food chain and benefits the entire life cycles of the fish (Shade, protection, food stations, gives off oxygen, etc, etc)....it can also be a secondary benefit to fishermen by attracting fish to certain areas so they can be easily caught...but in a pressured lake, this can be a nightmare!
Correct. (unless you use the B-52 squadron "carpet bombing" strategy- evil laughter sound effect here...)
We use hardwood stakes about 2''x 4'' size driven in , completely submerged will out last any brush . Hardwood lasts for many years if it is heavy enough not thin strips .Quote:
Originally Posted by INTIMIDATOR
If you don't mind me asking, how do you pound 2x4's in a pond that's filled, and how do you get them underwater? Seems like alot of work compared to dropping buckets in??Quote:
Originally Posted by NIMROD
Wouldn't it defeat the purpose to place them in the shallows if the pond water heats up?
That's why we fill shallows with longer lasting brush blocks (osage, cedar) and easy to get Christmas trees for minnows and baitfish that can survive the shallow water heat.
Heck, maybe you're on to something??
Our biggest problem with putting stakes into the bottom was that the ODNR person who gave her blessing and support was adamant that everything had to be able to be pushed over by boats that might hit them as opposed to being fixed solidly. (We have to put up with sail boats with keelsoms down to 6` and the jet skiers... )
A member in Southaven gave away some pvc fence panels years ago. The panels slide in a chain link fence to make it private. They are hollow and a rough measurement is 1/4" thick X 2 1/2" wide and 8' long. I got 2 bundles of 50 or 100, can't remember. You're welcome to all you want if you pick them up. If you want more I could check with him.
In our pond we use old spring mattress with cane woven in the springs( we burn the material off, if it has any) . we weigh them down with blocks . every 4-5 years we pull out and replace cane . We put very little in shallow water . these 10-15 ft ponds warm up so much that summertime fishing is mainly done in the deep . we have no crappie as our pond is 6-7 acres .
Agreed...Quote:
Originally Posted by eagle 1
Just remember though, the fry and minnows love that hot shallow water,...their oxygen requirement is a lot less than larger fish and their heat tolerance is much higher...some cover can also give off enough oxygen to sustain this small ecosystem....you also need to provide fry/minnows with some cover that will protect them from birds, 'coons, etc, and give then a place to get out of the direct sun! That is just one of the many things you can do to help your pond OR LAKE, to stay healthy.