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.