Thread: SOMETHING TO PONDER ON COLD BLUSTRY DAYS WE CANT FISH

CG, Matt is a great guy and a wealth of information. On top of that, he's passionate about fishing. I'm sure he can help.

Originally Posted by Crappiegirl1

Thank u are crappie I have gone over to their board and invited him to our thread for input

something to ponder!

Originally Posted by Crappiegirl1

Thank u are crappie I have gone over to their board and invited him to our thread for input

Thanks for the invite. I love to talk about the biology of fish, especially crappie. As many have pointed out, crappie growth is variable around the country. Many factors contribute to this (# of growth days, genetics, exploitation rates, and productivity of the water body). These conditions even widely vary in Arkansas. I really only know about growth rates of crappie from the lakes in my district in central arkansas. So I speak on these lakes. Arkansas has a good number of growing days relative to more northern states but not as many as our neighbors to the south. Lakes in my district are characterized as having very good growth and high exploitation (angler harvest). Our waters are very productive and take on a very green color in the warmer months (phytoplankton bloom). I also think that a couple of our lakes may have developed superior genetics over time. Generally speaking white crappie put on more length than black crappie at an earlier age but black crappie catch up the whites in the end. Black crappie tend to put on more girth than white crappie initially but white crappie catch up in the end. Females of both species have the potential to grow larger than the males. Most of this growth is in the form of girth (egg mass and mesentery fat). The life span of a crappie is mainly determined by the exploitation (angler harvest) of the species. If you have a lake that has little to moderate exploitation rates, you will see older crappie. If the exploitation rates are high, you will not see very many old fish because they are getting harvested before they have a chance to reach an older age. I have seen some crappie that were almost 10 years old in one of my lakes. This lake has a moderate exploitation rate. These older fish were not that larger either. They were around 14 inches and 2 pounds. On a different lake, Lake Conway (my home lake) I caught 4 white crappie that were between 2.5 - 2.7 pounds and were 16" long. These crappie were all 3.5 years old. Also an angler recently caught a 3.2 pound crappie, that was a little over 16" long. That fish was 4.75 years old. I could point out many examples like this. My guess is that lakes in Florida behave similarly to lakes in Arkansas. Depending on exploitation rates, productivity, and genetics of the lakes you are talking about, will have a big impact on the questions that you were pondering. I hope this may have at least given y'all a little more to ponder. If you have more questions, you can find me on the Arkansas board. Thanks.

Matt

Thanks Matt....very good read. Several of our lakes have some big fish in the 2+ lb range but the pressure is also extremely heavy. I just hope the big fish continue to exist for us. Most of us practice a slot type fishing by releasing the smaller ones and anything in the two pound plus range. One day I hope to catch a 3 pound crappie!

Thanks again for your input!