Small impoundments provide close-to-home fishing opportunities for many Missourians, but many do not produce quality sport fisheries for one or more species. In particular, many small lakes contain populations of slow-growing bluegills and crappies that are stunted in growth. The presence of gizzard shad and common carp are known to negatively influence the pan fish populations.
A potential management strategy is to introduce additional predators, flathead catfish and hybrid striped bass, to potentially reduce common carp and gizzard shad populations via predation. If common carp and gizzard shad populations can be reduced via predator introductions, panfish populations may improve and support higher quality sport fisheries.
