Keeping Crappie???

[IL Trophy Hunter]

I have heard that if not properly managed crappie can take over a farm pond. Well, I have a 3 acre pond on my families farm that has lots of crappie, bass, bluegill, and catfish. What I was wondering is should I keep all crappie I catch, or should I release some of the smaller fish?? I' m asking more from a conservation stand point rather than a " I love to eat fish stand point" Also any thoughts on how I should manage the bass would be appreciated. A friend of mine has told me that because of the number of smaller crappie and bass for that matter that we have caught there is because of overpopulation, and that they we' re not reaching their potential due to lack of abundant food. I however find this hard to believe as this pond is bordered on three sides by woods, and there is hydrilla in a big portion of the pond which harbors lots of critters for the game fish to feed on. Well any opinions on this would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Big Country]

I imagine it would be the same in Illinois as it is here in PA. Here, a 3 acre pond needs to have bass removed on a regular basis or they become stunted from overpopulation. They all look like they came out of the same cookie cutter. 8 - 9" long.


As far as the crappie and bluegill.....they go in the skillet so fast, they never get overpopulated!

[Wickman (Buckmaster)]

I woud probably just take the bigger crappie and let the little ones go, just take the ones you would take regularly.

[Deleted User]

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[mauser06]

i fish farm ponds alot....we started a management program on my friends but we only went up once a week and al week people took all the bass out and took them home to eat or mount or stock their water or whatever...and they also took all the big gills in it so we have very few fish to work with....so we quit...but when we did do it taking the bigger gills out let more get bigger faster and also the bass that were stunned at about 12-14in grew and there were more fingerlings in the spring...people had no permission to fish that pond let alone take all the fish from it...you could see the tire tracks in the grass from them driving on the yard and where they littered and such..not sure who it was but a group of guys came over once in a while when we were there and fished it without saying a word to us....im thinking it was them....but my friends dad(owner of the camp and pond) knows the guys a tiny bit and doenst like telling people to stop fishing there or hunting the land or anything.....so theres no way the land will reach its potential hunting or fishing wise....but o well its not my land.....id say take the bigger crappies and gills and you should be good....good luck...

[kc_bowhunter]

Crappie can overpopulate a pond in a short period of time. I keep the small ones, and let go the big ones. It' s fun knowing there are some big ones lurking around your lure... I don' t think you could fish all of the small ones if you tried.

[mharrisatuwg]

If I were in your shoes I would keep the smaller crappie, and throw back the bigger ones. I would do the same for the bass. I would take out the bass that are around a pound, and throw back the larger ones. Keeping the smaller ones will help your stock by allowing the better fish breed, so that you get genetically better fish. Not to mention that usually the smaller ones are better to eat anyway. Just my opinion. Good luck

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[benhuntin]

Keep the bigger ones (+10inches), and throw the smaller ones back (-10inches).
I used this management on our lease pond and after five years most of the fish you caught were good sized crappie.