Adding crawfish to supplement a pond

If you can get a small boat to the spot in the woods I would recommend a pond survey. They can shock it to see what fish if any are in there, and recommend a strategy. It may be overrun with stunted bass. I understand that if bass are present the crawfish will not last long enough to create an issue on the levee.

Also what is a black perch?

Dunk’s fish farm

Listed as black crappie and supposedly not as aggressive as white perch

If you are serious about doing this right the first time, I recommend you read this Managing Mississippi Ponds and Small Lakes and follow the stocking and management recommendations. All southern states have a comparable pond manual and they are all going to provide you the same recommendations - all based on research at Auburn University developed decades ago.

First, avoid stocking hybrid bluegill, they don’t breed true in later generations, stick with copper nose bluegill and redear sunfish (shellcrackers), in a 80:20/70:30 ratio. You can stock them now.

Do not stock black perch, white perch (= crappie/sac-a-lait) at all.

Stock largemouth bass next spring, May or so.

If you want some additional variety you can stock 100 channel catfish fingerlings per acre this winter.

Ideally I’d recommend you drain the pond first to kill any fish population that might in it. I’m assuming this likely not possible, and I’ll just assume from your description there is for all practical purposes no existing fish population in the pond.

Though you can add crawfish and it won’t hurt anything, I don’t think it will of any benefit.

If you, or your uncle, don’t follow tried and true small pond stocking and management recommendations developed by southern Land Grant universities that have been around for 70+ years you are likely going to very disappointed in the results 3 years down the road.

The pond doesn’t need to be any deeper than 7 feet. The deeper the pond the greater the risk of catastrophic kills down the road in late summer/early fall from oxygen depletion.

Again, I can’t emphasize this enough, read the manual, follow the recommendations.

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Again, I can’t emphasize this enough, read the manual, follow the recommendations

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Yea we pretty much fricked it up and I wasn’t happy about perch being put in or bass this early. Hybrid bream were what I was recommended. I’ve read coppernosw have to constantly be stocked. I was gonna wait till next spring to stock base but uncle did otherwise. I agree it wasn’t done right. No way to drain pond thou

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Do not stock black perch, white perch (= crappie/sac-a-lait) at all.

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I don't think this should be taken as a blanket statement.

We have had success stocking black crappie in our pond. Even though there is some structure in the pond, they either don't reproduce or the bream and bass must eat all the fry. Once we stock them we catch them over the next few years until they are gone. So, every few years we just restock some more.

Every pond is different and every pond will need continual monitoring. We have bass, bream, black crappie and catfish. You have to monitor the populations every year. Not seeing catfish feeding or catching any, add more bass. Not catching any brean or the ones you do are huge + too many small bass then you start keeping all the bass that will bite and maybe supplement the bream population.

i can just about promise you that you already have crawfish if its an established pond. no need to add them unless you just want to

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We have had success stocking black crappie in our pond. Even though there is some structure in the pond, they either don't reproduce or the bream and bass must eat all the fry. Once we stock them we catch them over the next few years until they are gone. So, every few years we just restock some more

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They taste like white perch? I figured I’d have to fish the hell out of them to keep them from overpopulation

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Hybrid bream were what I was recommended.

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You weren’t recommended this by a professional fishery biologist that works in small pond/lake management, unless he/she miss understood your management objectives. There is a use for them but not as you described in your objectives for the pond.

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I’ve read coppernosw have to constantly be stocked.

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Nothing could further from the truth. You didn’t read this any state agency or land grant university recreational pond management manual. Whoever wrote or stated this clearly didn’t know what they were talking about.

But work the best with what you have, you are on the board asking questions so you are obviously trying to manage the pond correctly. But sounds like with your Uncle doing what he thinks best without any biological basis for his actions you are just going to have to live with the consequences of his actions and hope for the best down the road

But at the end of the day, if in 2 or 3 years you can go catch some fish out the pond and have a good and fun time doing so, then that’s what’s it’s all about.

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I plan on constantly adding minnows

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What I mean by that is when you do add, add 8 pounds every other time instead of 4 pounds at a time. It gives some a chance to survive and last a little longer. You might get some reproduction of minnows if you try this approach.