The pond I fish by church is reported to have crappie. The neighbor insists there is crappie there. I've fished the pond for a year and a half, mostly with bass lures, but some with worms with my boy. I've never caught a crappie. Normally things like beetle spins, roostertails, and crankbaits will produce a crappie or two as bycatch.

 

Honestly, I think there ain't no crappie in there. I think the gent is mistaken about what fish he thinks is crappie.

 

What are my chances that after all this time I still wouldn't have caught a crappie as bycatch?

Well, I guess I'd have no reason to not believe the neighbor.

 

Not sure how big the pond is but they might be out farther than your casting distance.

 

Next time you go just throw some small baits.

 

That or maybe talk to some other people that fish there.

How big is the pond?  I was under the impression that if the body of water was under 10 acres it would get overrun with crappie.

It's about 2 acres. I fish all the way around it. Just surprised that I haven't run into crappie, enough so that I doubt the neighbor.

My guess is you are correct that the guy doesn’t know what a crappie is.  Crappie will take over a pond quickly.  I fished a 100 acre state owned lake that had this problem.   We caught countless crappie that were too small to eat but you could not released them alive.   They ended up draining the lake to kill the crappie.

There’s a quarry behind my house that I have fished for 4-5 years. I have always caught only 9-12” largemouth in there. My buddy was with me one day and hollered across the pond that he had caught a crappie. Then he caught another one. Those were the only two crappie I’ve ever seen/heard coming from there so you’re neighbor might not be crazy 

In the spring, can you see them spawning in the shallows?  

Thanks @TnRiver46.

 

I'm not sure what to look for @MontanaBasser. I see bluegill beads and bass beds. 

With the numbers of ~12" bass you're catching, I suspect you are using lures that 8-10" crappie would be eating.  Certainly throwing worms it would be.  Beetle spins or small grubs would have caught one or two.  It doesn't mean they aren't in there, just that you haven't caught one yet.

 

If you want to know for sure, you need to fish for them.  In the spring when the water starts to warm up, throw some little jigs under a bobber around cover (2" bobby garland shad for instance on a 1/32 head).  Then after the bass spawn start looking for crappie spawning.  They are easy to catch when they are on the beds.  If you can't catch them shortly after ice out or during the spawn, then I'll suggest that the numbers are pretty low.  

I've seen it go both ways...I've seen ponds and even small lakes with seemingly endless crappies but they never get over 8in. Had a state park lake about 20 miles from my house that 3 or 4 winters back we ice fished it and 3 guys could literally catch 7-8 in crappies every drop until you got sick of it. I've also seen small pits and ponds like the one your speaking of ...1-3 acres...where the numbers of crappie are extremely low as they never seem to get a foothold. That said some of the biggest crappie I've ever seen have come from those low number waters. So while its possible your neighbor is mistaken there also may be very low numbers...but possibly you may find a giant.

I also fished a golf course pond growing up that was all bass and one week we caught two giant crappie. Then never again 

Your neighbor is off his rocker.

4 hours ago, MontanaBasser said:

In the spring, can you see them spawning in the shallows?  

Crappie spawn before bass usually near or in wood areas.

Tom

I fish small retention ponds and although I can say for a fact there are crappies in them I don’t catch them nearly as often as I feel I should based on a lot of misinformation I’ve read/heard prior to joining here. The crappies tend to hang out in the colder water/deepest water which is relatively shallow here. I’m not saying I don’t catch them ever but another misconception at least by me is they will “overtake” a pond, with that said I’m not trying to say they aren’t fighting for the same food source as the bass but they definitely aren’t overtaking any of the ponds I fish as I catch more bluegill and bass than crappie.

Around here small crappie are eaten by bass and catfish.  Your pond may have crappie in it, but predators may be thinning out the numbers.

Throw a flashback mini in there.. if you don’t catch a crappie then there are none in there. GUARANTEED. 

I’ve fished the pond that my parents camp is on for a decade now. It’s maybe 2 acres. Lots of largemouth in those 10 years. But about 5 years ago I randomly caught the biggest crappie of my life on a Chug Bug. That’s the only crappie I have caught from this pond. My dad fishes it more than I do and has never seen or caught a crappie. 
 

Wow, thanks for sharing @Jar11591.

Crappie are nearly impossible to manage in small bodies of water. They impact balance and leave the pond in ruin 99.9% of the time. Yes, at some point in the cycle someone will catch a few huge bass to always remember and talk about, but long term it’s always a disaster. Be very thankful you didn’t find them and head to the river or local reservoir to enjoy them.

If you like fishing ponds google relative weight calculators and learn the basics from Dr Swingle. He laid the foundations for how we manage ponds.

On 11/14/2025 at 3:23 PM, TnRiver46 said:

I also fished a golf course pond growing up that was all bass and one week we caught two giant crappie. Then never again 

Someone threw two crappie in.

On 11/10/2025 at 6:18 PM, Tennessee Boy said:

My guess is you are correct that the guy doesn’t know what a crappie is.  Crappie will take over a pond quickly.  I fished a 100 acre state owned lake that had this problem.   We caught countless crappie that were too small to eat but you could not released them alive.   They ended up draining the lake to kill the crappie.

I fish a 30 acre private lake that has a good population of crappie, along with largemouth up to and including 8 lbs., bluegill, shellcrackers, warmouth and the occasional flathead catfish. It also has golden shiners. I've caught a couple as large as 7". It has forage of different sizes, which I guess is key to supporting all the species. Most of the crappie are smallish, but they can get up to a couple pounds.

In most ponds you'd be taking about all the species competing for fathead minnows and whatever small fry of gamefish there are at any given time. And that's a bad recipe. Heck, most small ponds have just bluegill and bass that get out of balance. You can end up with a good bluegill pond, but also a pond full of sub 1 pound bass if you're not diligent.