Crappie in Ponds

I have been doing many consultations for people wanting to make and maintain a trophy crappie pond. So many, in fact that I decided to write an in depth article about crappie ponds in the April issue of Heartland Outdoors Magazine. It is a must read for anyone wanting to learn about managing crappies in ponds. Here is a pic of Logan Sauder holding up a nice stringer of crappie he caught from his 6 acre pond last March.

Just recently I was down near Vandalia, Il coming up with a stocking and management plan for a brand new 1.5 acre pond with a 100% focus on growing, catching, and eating crappie. Creating a specialized outside the box fishery is my absolute favorite! I hate to say this, but I get very bored with the typical bass, bluegill, catfish pond and really look forward to helping folks raise 'the other' fish in ponds.

This spring we will be stocking our own brand new 1/2 acre pond with feed trained smallmouth bass and feed trained yellow perch! You will be hearing more about this project as it progresses. Also this spring we are stocking a dozen other brand new ponds with various combinations of hybrid striped bass, smallmouth bass, yellow perch, walleye, and crappies!

Anyhow on our way to Vandalia we stopped by Pana Wholesale Bait company to get the fathead minnows to start the food chain for the ultimate crappie pond. Here is a good look at them just before going into the pond:


There was about a 15 degree difference in water temps so we let them acclimate in the pond for about 25 minutes before releasing them.

Mrs. Armstrong had the honors of placing the first fish into the newly filled pond. And yes, we headed 3 hours south on Monday and it started getting colder the whole way down and it actually turned to snow for about an hour!


I'm not giving out anymore information on how to create the ultimate crappie pond here online. NCAA tournament is on in the background and its soon going to be the center of my attention. You will have to get a copy of the magazine and read the article for more info. Just call(309) 741-9790 or email jeff@heartlandoutdoors.com to get an April issue mailed to your door. I write how to articles monthly in the magazine about topics like Hybrid Striped Bass, Rainbow Trout, Ice Fishing, etc. None of those articles have been published online anywhere yet and probably won't be for quite awhile.