redmexican5081 Posted June 12, 2017 Posted June 12, 2017 Hi all, First time posting after lurking for a long time. I have been fishing a small 13 Acre pond by my home for the past 6 years. Max depth is ~14' and there is a shelf that runs around the entire edge that goes from 2' to about 6' before it breaks sharply to 9-10 and then gradually slopes towards the middle. It has never been a fantastic producer but i would consistently have 8-10 fish days. I am one of the only people that I know of that fishes it on a regular basis. I have started to notice over the last 2 years that the bass population seems to be missing. Last fall i went 4 weeks without catching a bass. This spring, with the crazy weather in the northeast, was a disaster. I got out again this weekend and finally managed to catch a bass, it was ~8" long and tucked up almost against the shrub bushes that form the perimeter of the pond. I tried for about an hour more hoping that i had figured out the days pattern and couldn't get another to bite. What I have noticed is a huge boom in the population of crappie in this pond. I caught the first one about 3 years ago on a 6" black Mr. Twister phenom worm. Now it seems like there are so many that I can't go a day without catching one. This past weekend i must have caught 50 of them. It didn't matter if it was a senko in the shallow weeds, a jerkbait along the deeper weed edge, or even on a small frog in the lily pads. I've even caught them on a jig and craw near the 1 premium laydown the shoreline has to offer this year. This pond has become so good for crappie fishing that I started taking my 4 year old with me. Anywhere I stop, I just let him drop a small bait, a 2" Berkley Powerbait swimbait in firetiger is his favorite because it is a "wiggly fish", and he just bounces it for a few seconds before he hooks up. He loves it and I enjoy taking him but it makes me wonder, with this many crappie around, is the bass fishing done? Quote
Bassin' Brad Posted June 12, 2017 Posted June 12, 2017 Time to fill the freezer with crappie. Sounds like the crappie are overpopulated and now it's time to do your part in fish management. 4 Quote
huffman1988 Posted June 12, 2017 Posted June 12, 2017 1 hour ago, Bassin' Brad said: Time to fill the freezer with crappie. Sounds like the crappie are overpopulated and now it's time to do your part in fish management. Yep warm up the frying pan and bring some home for dinner. If you put the crappie in check the bass may be able to make a comeback. 3 Quote
beardown34 Posted June 13, 2017 Posted June 13, 2017 The only thing I stick around with that skunks me for 4 weeks in a row is the person who can take half from me. Time to find new water! 2 Quote
Super User Darren. Posted June 13, 2017 Super User Posted June 13, 2017 Welcome aboard! Does sound like a crappie fest is needed. Invite some friends, tell them there are no bass in that pond, take all the crappie they catch! Quote
Super User RoLo Posted June 13, 2017 Super User Posted June 13, 2017 Crappies serve as prey for bass, which were probably in that pond before their presence was obvious. In small ponds though, when the crappie population explodes, it can seriously reduce the forage base. Bass and crappies coexist well together, but a pond that's chock-full of crappies will typically support a population of small bass, but should have little affect on bass abundance. Roger Quote
papajoe222 Posted June 13, 2017 Posted June 13, 2017 1 hour ago, beardown34 said: The only thing I stick around with that skunks me for 4 weeks in a row is the person who can take half from me. Time to find new water! Four weeks! I'd have half a mind to give up half. I'm an OLD fart and I think I'd loose it if I got skunked four weeks straight. Maybe it's your bait? Quote
Savage33 Posted June 13, 2017 Posted June 13, 2017 Crappie will absolutely ruin a pond with bass in it, if not managed. My uncle had it happen to one of his ponds. So we started filling freezers up. We targeted crappie until they became hard to catch. Do that every year and the bass will start to thrive again. Quote
Global Moderator Bluebasser86 Posted June 13, 2017 Global Moderator Posted June 13, 2017 Crappie are eating machines and they not only directly compete with bass, but they also will wipe out a majority of a bass spawn in small bodies of water. They're great bass forage, so don't remove them all, but you have to take a bunch of them out. Quote
redmexican5081 Posted June 13, 2017 Author Posted June 13, 2017 Thanks for all the responses. I figured it was going to be time to do some harvesting. 13 hours ago, beardown34 said: The only thing I stick around with that skunks me for 4 weeks in a row is the person who can take half from me. Time to find new water! This is the only body of water that I've been having this type of issue with and it's also the only one my other half is ok with me stopping off at on any random day for a few hours because it's so close to home and when I get the "where are you" call I can say just down the road Quote
beardown34 Posted June 13, 2017 Posted June 13, 2017 2 hours ago, redmexican5081 said: Thanks for all the responses. I figured it was going to be time to do some harvesting. This is the only body of water that I've been having this type of issue with and it's also the only one my other half is ok with me stopping off at on any random day for a few hours because it's so close to home and when I get the "where are you" call I can say just down the road When I get the where are you call, my response is voicemail 2 Quote
Crop9 Posted June 13, 2017 Posted June 13, 2017 31 minutes ago, beardown34 said: When I get the where are you call, my response is voicemail The only time I'm glad my cell phone provider does not have good reception. "But babe, I didn't ignore your call..." 1 Quote
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