Who knows what a sunfish or croppie would eat?!?

Question

I have a large pond in my backyard that filters out to a river, and I caught a fish--- at first I thought it was a normal sunfish, but now I can tell it looks like a croppie with a yellow belly!! I think the fish may have started breeding like that since there are not a lot of fish but yet there is to many for the size of the pond, (that goes up to 8 ft deep). I kept the fish in a aquarium and its a baby not to big, it won't eat fish food , but I caught a blue gill last year that would eat fish food. Should I try something that moves maybe like a worm or crayfish? And if it doesn't eat how long till I should put it back? Thankyou!

Answer 1

a crappie feeds almost exclusively on live shiners or bait fish- the sunfish feed on almost any insect, worm or  larvae- if it is a crappie, better catch some minnows and put them into the pond-very small ones if the crappie is small- good luck.

Answer 2

use small minnows and a float or worms for the sunfish and blue gill.  A lure called the beatle spin works good to.

Answer 3

whats a croppie? is it like a crappie and the yellow bellied fish(depending on you region) is most likely a pumpkinseed which is in the sunfish family and looks pretty similar. the fish is probobly shocked and will most likely die.

Answer 4

in my area, i use small crappie as bait, so wen i need some i take some old backon and as soon as i but the hook in the water there on it like a fly on a piece of S**t

Answer 5

Crappie like to eat small minnows, insects, and worms.

Answer 6

I would put in a Crappie Minnow, you can find them at some gas stations and every bait shop.

Answer 7

mealworms or waxworms will work good...alot of times they won't eat while you are watching them...

You didn't have to pull the hook hard out of the crappie did you? if so you could have hurt him alot and he many not eat for a while - he may be stressed so give ime some time but try the mealworms...

Or you can go to the neighborhood brook and catch some really small fish (need lots of them) and put them in the tank - I know both fish will eat them... up to about 2" long

Answer 8

Croppie and blue gill both like worms so you could try that but I would recomend a small guppy or some other small fish from your local pet shop, thats what I feed my croppie.

Answer 9

Feed it Nightcrawlers.

If it don't eat return it immediately