Major Crappie

[Outdoor_myers]

Well today my friend and I went crappie fishing in a small farm pond. We nailed them! about 100 crappie in a few hours on minnows, and lures. ranging from rattle traps to auger tails. It was a blast! although the pond is over populated with bass and crappie the crappie averaged at 10 inches and the bass at 7-12 inches. Its a small pond under a 1/2 acre. Does anyone know what we can do to increase their growth? we have permission from the owners to stock the pond anyway we want. They are an elderly couple with no kids and grandkids. So we have lifetime fishing there and basically we must upkeep the pond.

[JIvers]

The Iowa DNR does not recommend putting crappie in small ponds for just this reason:

"Many people like to have species of fish in their pond other than the usual bass, bluegill and channel catfish. Several species are available for sale from private hatcheries in Iowa. Walleye and northern pike are trophy fish and highly sought by anglers. These fish can be stocked into farm ponds and will cause no harm. Neither species will reproduce, however, and they must be stocked periodically if the population is to be maintained. Walleye seldom grow large in ponds, but northerns often do. A major disadvantage of stocking northern pike is when they become large they feed heavily on largemouth bass. Crappie are often stocked in ponds although they usually produce little fishing, seldom grow to acceptable size in ponds and compete directly with bass. They are not recommended for ponds. Bullheads are also popular with Iowa anglers, but should not be stocked in ponds. Bullheads often become over-crowded, are very slow growing and muddy the water."

http://www.iowadnr.gov/fish/programs/farmpond/fpp.html

More general pond trouble-shooting can be found at http://www.iowadnr.gov/fish/programs/farmpond.html

I've seen the problem you are describing myself around Iowa City--ponds with crappie in them produce few crappie over 10", and few bass over 12". Ponds with no crappie that I can find in them consistently produce bigger bass. You may wish to contact the local DNR for more expert advice, but my guess is if you want to manage this pond for big bass, kill it off and start from scratch without crappies.