Crappie

[OzarkFishman]

You are exactly right Lilley. MDC has many free pamphlets that will help you with everything from Pond Management to Proper Record Keeping. They also will offer free advice via telephone and will even come out to your pond if you get on the waiting list.

The fish and keep day is my idea that I plan on implementing if I ever get a chance to be a land owner with a nice pond (The neighborhood that I live in won't let me put a pond on my 1/3 acre lot , wonder why).

In the end, listen to Lilley. I am just a person that likes to learn and put in lots of time studying pond management this spring. Every pond is different, so MDC is definately the way to go.

OzarkFishman

[Buckshotdad1960]

I’m not for sure what you mean lilly, contact them about what? My point was that if cold water does exist on the bottom in the deeper water then perhaps the pond will offer the best of both worlds and fish like smallmouth will indeed survive the warmer water that a pond produces due to the heating of the sun in summer. The DNR have already been there at the owners request and stocked the pond with Green sunfish, minnows and crawdads. I just want to find some crappies in the Green and Tanny county area accessible from shore. And if the guys here are right then the MDC will just try and talk me out of putting them in the pond.

[skeeter]

I don't know who stocked your friend's pond but it wasn't DNR ( Dept. of Natural Resources).

Missouri Dept. of Conservation is one of the oldest and most respected such agencies in the United States. They have an excellent pond stocking program for free provided you open your pond to anyone who requests to fish it. No, you don't have to advertise it, just allow fishermen access to it. Their SW headquarters is located in Springfield, right up the road.

DO NOT import Crappie as others have said. They will overpopulate and ruin the pond requiring an eventual poisoning of everything in the water and re-starting from scratch. MDC agent will come out, survey the pond, inquire or check depth ( if it's not over eight feet deep forget your free stocking as fish will not survive Winters in less than eight feet if ice covered and then snow falls over the ice ) and ask owner about bottom, whether any exposed rock, gravel sand etc.

MDC will also ask you to conduct your own "creel census" after a few years where you and others fishing the pond will be asked to keep written records of species, numbers, length and general observed health of fish caught and either kept or released. They will then often advise the landowner what, if any, changes to make and will sometimes offer a further stocking.

Whatever you or your friend do, when you get a Bass population established, DO NOT remove every large Bass you catch. They are the apex predator in the water and keep the panfish, minnows etc. in check which will otherwise consume all available food sources if allowed to forage unchecked. Also, strongly urge you not to accept any advice that says to stock Grass Carp or White Amur for vegetation control. They were looked upon by MDC as the solution to aquatic vegetation problems but have now been ruled out for multiple reasons.

Good luck and good fishing.

[crappiefisherman]

I guess I need to study up on this.Arent the state record crappie in missouri pond caught fish.Ive seen huge fish caught from gated community ponds where little if no fishing occurs.I guess im just confused, as I have also seen community watersheds so full of stunted fish they want you to keep anything you catch and high limits..........And I dont know any local ponds outside of the clever area that have good crappie fisheries, also by the way,that have large and not meaning huge bass, but large populations of bass and hybrid gills

[ozark trout fisher]

I don't know about crappie... But if they are anything like Green Sunfish, they'll kill your pond. The lakes around where I live are all infested with green sunfish, (which have large mouths, and eat the same things growing bass do). All of these ponds have generally stunted bass, a 15 incher is considered a real nice fish. Just be careful what you stock in your pond, that's all I have to say.

On a side note, I'm not at all sure its even legal to bring gamefish from a public water back to your pond. Anyway, it just doesn't seem right, taking fish from a public water, and bringing back to your own pond, I dunno about that. Just throwing it out there, but the MDC will stock your pond with largemouth, catfish, and bluegill. Might be the way to go.

And if you do the MDC stocking plan, you do not have to allow anyone to fish your pond you don't want to. Let me say that again... You do not have to provide public access to your pond (although I'm sure folks would appreciate if you did) if the MDC stocks it, although you do have to follow statewide regs.

And I seriously doubt that smallies would survive, or reproduce. They tried stocking those in Lake Sherwood (a deep, spring-fed lake that you'd think might be able to support them), and they died of pretty quick. A small pond will be cool enough to support them. Any cool water probably will not be oxygenated enough. But if its where a trout hatchery usd to be, who knows.

[Buckshotdad1960]

You might be right on that about the DNR not stocking the pond. I’m only assuming they did. The owners property manager told me he had it stocked but didn’t say who did it. All I know is there are hundreds of tiny green sunfish any where you go along the shore of the pond. Now that I think about it, this being a private housing development, he probably wouldn’t want the public in general coming through and fishing the pond out all the time so perhaps he didn’t go the DNR route? I’ll find out.

As far as taking a few fish from public waters to stock the pond, well, I don’t see anything wrong with that. All I need are a few pairs to start the species. I think sometimes we’re a little over conditioned about things and over look the obvious. Stocking the pond could in time relieve a little fishing pressure off public waters for one. With your logic, it’s ok to take 30 crappies from public waters and have a fish fry with my friends every day of the week because it’s legal to do so but its wrong to take 10 or 15 and throw them in the pond to be caught and recaught again. Now, you’ll probably respond by saying, well what if everyone did that? There would be no fish left in the public waters. To which I would say, you know that’s not going to happen. But in a sense it does, think about all the people who eat the fish they catch and still there is plenty for everyone to still enjoy. The police and game wardens like to us your way of thinking when it comes to writing tickets because it their after your money. Not that I’m against laws or don’t want to play by the rules. Laws exist for good reasons but I’m for common sense in all things. For example, when I come up on a stop sign out in the middle of no where and I can clearly see no cars are coming from either way I don’t come to a complete stop. Do you? And I don’t think throwing a few crappies in the pond is going to collapse the system either. What if I brought a few home in the live well then became too tired to clean them and just threw them in the pond instead? Would I still be on Americas most wanted? If ever I find myself fishing without a license and a game warden tries to give me a ticket, I’m going to tell him that he can’t give me one. When he asks why I’m going to say, well what if every game warden who caught me fishing without a license gave me a ticket? I wouldn’t have any money left would I? When fish become more important than the humans they exist for then gentlemen I suggest we have a problem.

I spent a few years up in MN. At first it was against the law to catch a carp and release it. This only insured that no matter where you fished it smelled like dead fish. People who obeyed the law just threw their catch up on the bank to die and rot. Plus it didn’t even make a dent in the carp population. So they changed the law and made it a crime not to throw them back. The air cleared and the flies thinned. I know all about carp and there will never be any in this pond as long as I’m around.

AND YOU!!!

CRAPPIEFISHERMAN!

You call your self a crappiefisherman and yet you don’t know any place to catch crappies even though you’ve lived here all your life! Can anyone say LIARER! LOL I should rip the strips from your shoulders, break your crappie rod across my knee and give you a bass rod! The pain from the incompetence must be utterly unbearable to endure and the shame of not knowing where the crappies are must be more than a man can stand! Let the name CRAPPIEFISHERMAN be stricken from any forum, post or blog! Let the name CRAPPIEFISHERMAN be a curse and a dirty word! Let the name CRAPPIEFISHERMAN be…..wait! Hold up! I don’t know where the crappies are either! Ok, forget all that and just get out there and look for some crappies! When you find them let me know! Man it’s hard to find good help these days! LOL

I can see that I may be heading down a dead end road here. Has the world gone mad? When men love trout more than they love crappies we must be living in the end times! It must be the end of days! Is there no hope?

[crappiefisherman]

Buckshot, you need to ask your wife to get your medicine off the top of the refrigerator.As my kids say , I think your wacked out on the stuff............................................................I havent caught a crappie in years and dont know where they are, the lakes are full of stunted ones and gar.Prolly ought to take up needlepoint

[ozark trout fisher]

You might be right on that about the DNR not stocking the pond. I’m only assuming they did. The owners property manager told me he had it stocked but didn’t say who did it. All I know is there are hundreds of tiny green sunfish any where you go along the shore of the pond. Now that I think about it, this being a private housing development, he probably wouldn’t want the public in general coming through and fishing the pond out all the time so perhaps he didn’t go the DNR route? I’ll find out.

As far as taking a few fish from public waters to stock the pond, well, I don’t see anything wrong with that. All I need are a few pairs to start the species. I think sometimes we’re a little over conditioned about things and over look the obvious. Stocking the pond could in time relieve a little fishing pressure off public waters for one. With your logic, it’s ok to take 30 crappies from public waters and have a fish fry with my friends every day of the week because it’s legal to do so but its wrong to take 10 or 15 and throw them in the pond to be caught and recaught again. Now, you’ll probably respond by saying, well what if everyone did that? There would be no fish left in the public waters. To which I would say, you know that’s not going to happen. But in a sense it does, think about all the people who eat the fish they catch and still there is plenty for everyone to still enjoy. The police and game wardens like to us your way of thinking when it comes to writing tickets because it their after your money. Not that I’m against laws or don’t want to play by the rules. Laws exist for good reasons but I’m for common sense in all things. For example, when I come up on a stop sign out in the middle of no where and I can clearly see no cars are coming from either way I don’t come to a complete stop. Do you? And I don’t think throwing a few crappies in the pond is going to collapse the system either. What if I brought a few home in the live well then became too tired to clean them and just threw them in the pond instead? Would I still be on Americas most wanted? If ever I find myself fishing without a license and a game warden tries to give me a ticket, I’m going to tell him that he can’t give me one. When he asks why I’m going to say, well what if every game warden who caught me fishing without a license gave me a ticket? I wouldn’t have any money left would I? When fish become more important than the humans they exist for then gentlemen I suggest we have a problem.

I spent a few years up in MN. At first it was against the law to catch a carp and release it. This only insured that no matter where you fished it smelled like dead fish. People who obeyed the law just threw their catch up on the bank to die and rot. Plus it didn’t even make a dent in the carp population. So they changed the law and made it a crime not to throw them back. The air cleared and the flies thinned. I know all about carp and there will never be any in this pond as long as I’m around.

AND YOU!!!

CRAPPIEFISHERMAN!

You call your self a crappiefisherman and yet you don’t know any place to catch crappies even though you’ve lived here all your life! Can anyone say LIARER! LOL I should rip the strips from your shoulders, break your crappie rod across my knee and give you a bass rod! The pain from the incompetence must be utterly unbearable to endure and the shame of not knowing where the crappies are must be more than a man can stand! Let the name CRAPPIEFISHERMAN be stricken from any forum, post or blog! Let the name CRAPPIEFISHERMAN be a curse and a dirty word! Let the name CRAPPIEFISHERMAN be…..wait! Hold up! I don’t know where the crappies are either! Ok, forget all that and just get out there and look for some crappies! When you find them let me know! Man it’s hard to find good help these days! LOL

I can see that I may be heading down a dead end road here. Has the world gone mad? When men love trout more than they love crappies we must be living in the end times! It must be the end of days! Is there no hope?

You remind me of good old Scudz Rule, for those of you who know what I'm talking about..........

I wasn't trying to start a war, just saying that I wouldn't personally be comfortable taking fish from public water to put in a private pond. JMHO

But its not a big deal. Take a few, just make sure they're legal fish and I know I don't really care that much. By the way, I'd like to see you make your argument about the fishing license to a conservation agent. I have a feeling that wouldn't go over too well.

[OzarkFishman]

Alright, here is what I know about ponds. Since I spend every weekend for 4 months either preparing to open or running my cornmaze in Lowry City (It is a family owned business and my wife and I are part owners), I do A LOT of pond fishing. I don't have time or money to go to big lakes very often. If I am not fishing a pond up around Lowry, then I am fishing Finley River or Springfield Lake. My point being that I know quite a bit about a large variety of ponds. The following will be my synopsis of what I have PERSONALLY seen in multiple ponds.

Pond 1: (1 acre) I fish this pond as much as possible because it is within walking distance of where I stay when I go up there. There are lots of small to medium sized bluegill and green sunfish (mostly on swimming minnow or small BPS squirmin shad). Also, there are lots of small bass and some good sized bass for a pond of this size (I have caught multiple bass between 1 - 2 pounds and one that was pushing 3). It is very shallow (average depth less than 4 feet, with a deeper center) and the only way to fish it in the summer is a weightless worm (senko or finesse worm). There have been a few catfish and crappie put in there.

Pond 2 (THE PIT): (5 acres) This is my favorite place to fish from Fall through Spring and is also the pit I talked about in my previous post. I have caught my 2 biggest bass ever out of this pit. It has a good variety of sizes of all species. The bigger bass do show signs of being stunted (big head), but also have fairly good girth and feed on the bigger crappie. Like I said before, I believe it is the depth that helps this pond. This pond also offers quality duck hunting throughout winter. I also deer hunt on this land (YES, I AM LUCKY). It is not uncommon to see turkey as well.

Pond 3: (3 - 4 acres) This pond is on the same land that pond 2 is. I have fished this pond a lot. It offers the best quality bass fishing. I HAVEN'T caught any crappie and I always fish this pond with a 3 and 4 inch swim bait on a jig head (1/8 - 1/4). I fished this pond 2 weekends ago and caught 30 bass in a 2 and 1/2 hour period. The average weight was 2 pounds (and yes I did have my digital scale with me). The biggest 2 were 3 lbs 6 oz and 3 lbs 5 oz. For fun bass fishing I go here. It is important to note that no crappie are present (at least to my knowledge) in this pond. There are baitfish in this pond.

Pond 4: (3 - 4 acres) This pond is also a great bass fishery. It has bluegill, green sunfish, and bass. I fish this with either a 2 inch or 3 inch shad on a jighead (do you see a pattern to my pond fishing technique). Usually I stick with the 2 inch because it allows me to catch quality bluegill and sunfish and well as big bass. Biggest bass caught here is 3 and 1/2 pounds with the average probably being 1 and 1/2 pounds (that is the average I catch, not the actual average which I can't tell unless I was to fish this pond a lot more).

Pond 5: (1 - 1.5 acres) This is a very shallow pond and offers amazing bluegill fishing. It is rather muddy, which is not usually conducive to big bluegill. Like I have said, every pond is different. There are also smaller bass, but the bluegill dominate this pond.

Pond 6: (1/2 acre, maybe closer to 1/4) This was a surprise. A family member wanted me to fish this pond to see if any bass survived from his intial stocking of 4 or 5 bass. He had stocked these bass 4 or 5 years earlier. I threw my normal 2 inch BPS shad and caught a bass (SMALL) almost every cast. It was a fun day, because I was able to help his 3 year old daughter catch her first ever fish. The biggest bass I have caught there is probably 3/4 of a pound. I did catch I VERY thick bluegill, which were not stocked there. Isn't nature grand.

Pond 7: (2 - 3 acres) From what I have heard this pond used to have a good population of good sized bass, but some of the Amish around were allowed to fish there and took a lot of bass out (nothing against the Amish). I have only fished this pond once. I did catch a couple of good bass (both over 2 pounds). I also caught multiple crappie, bluegill and green sunfish.

Conclusion: Everything is different for every body of water. The MDC does know what they are talking about, but I recommend talking to as many people with personal experience with ponds. Since your goal is fun fishing, it really doesn't matter IMO. I still think smallmouth will not survive and the flathead will not breed. The reason MDC recommends the big 3 for stocking (largemouth, bluegill and channel) is ease of record keeping and ease of management (not that it is easy).

I hope other people speak up and offer opinions. I try to just offer any knowledge that I have gained throughout my life in a logical manner, because many people on this forum have helped me become a better fisherman.

Best of luck to everyone on the water,

OzarkFishman

[Buckshotdad1960]

Crappiefishman,

LOL I knew you were the kind of guy I could clown around with. Any body who’s got the balls to call him self a crappie fisherman hast to be ok in my book! Any way I’m back on my med’s now but I’ve given up needle point due to an eye injury! LOL darn those jitters!

I’m going to find some crappies even if it kills me! I’m convinced more than ever now that you know where they are but true to the crappie code you’re not going to tell me but that’s ok. It’s ok! I understand, I’m a crappie fisherman too and we don’t share our secret spots with anyone. I’ll find some crappies on my own so don’t worry about me crappie brother - I’ll be fine. Sure I’m old and the weather is bad but who cares? I’ve got miles of shore line to fish before I sleep! I’ll just leave my wheel chair at the end of the road and drag myself down to the water. Sure, I could slip and fall into the water and get stuck in the mud but that’s not your concern! (Violin begins) It might take me hours with my old arthritic hands grabbing at the bushes to free myself but I’ll be fine. That is unless I don’t have another stroke and go into cardiac arrest again. (cough) But I’ll be ok, don’t worry about me Jimmy! Can I call you Jimmy? I just hope I don’t have to lay there for days in the frigid temperatures until somebody finds me. I don’t care though as long as I’ve got extra cigarettes I’ll be fine. (cough, cough) I just worry about the turtles eating on my old crippled legs if I don’t make it all the way out of the freezing water but that’s ok, they don’t work any way! If a man’s going to find a good spot to fish he has to earn it. I’m like you, I just don’t give up my good fishing spots to anyone even if they are half blind in one eye and riddled with cancer. (Wheeezz) Good spots are hard to come by. (cough) Why I wouldn’t even give up my worst spot to a guy who had alls timers and probably couldn’t find the spot again if……………………….was I finished?

Me: (Larry) Any way I just wanted to say I understand and no hard feelings.

Me: No matter what you’re still my crappie brother.

Jimmy: Yeah, you’re my brother Larry!

Me: Come here and give me a hug.

Jimmy: No, I don’t want to.

Me: It’s ok I’m not going to hurt you.

Jimmy: No!

Me: It’s ok.

Me: No matter what you’re still my brother! Come here.

Jimmy: Don’t hit me!

Me: I won’t hit you, come here!

Jimmy: Ok.

Me: That’s it! Come here. (Beat, Beat, Beat)

Jimmy: AAAHHH AAAAHH HELP!....AAAAAAAHH HELP, LARRY! (BEAT, BEAT, BEAT)

Me: WHEN I SAY GIVE ME A SPOT TO FISH YOU GIVE ME A SPOT TO FISH!

Me: Boy, sometimes you just have to keep’em in line!

Me: I told mom I’d look after him.

P.S. I sure hope everyone knows I’m just clowning around! LOL