Thread: crappie min. lengh on ark river

This is from agfc website

Attachment 31840.

i think if it was a landlocked lake i could understand a min length. especially small to medium ones. but the arkansas river system is huge and i really dont think a min. length would affect it significantly

it wouldn't hurt my feelings if there was a state wide 10" limit or a 20 fish creel limit for that matter

I think before I weigh in on this, I'd do a lot of research and listen to the fish biologists. Seems (they say) the main reason for small crappie in a lake or a river system is over-population. Size and/or numbers limits could produce negative results without specific studies on that body of water. Besides, if you consistently catch large numbers of keeper size (that's big enuf to clean and still have some meat left) crappie every time out, then you're in the minority here. I sure don't hurt 'em!! LOL :D

Afterthought (ouch!) ...... Look at Lake Chicot. It was once THE finest crappie lake anywhere. Now with a 20 fish numbers limit (30 and 50 elsewhere) and a 10" length limit (none elsewhere), it is still not defined as a good crappie lake. Most locals and dock owners describe it as a poor crappie producer in the last 7-8 years and it is NOT noticeably improving with the imposition of the limits. There are many lines of thought as to why this is as it is but it seems that limits are not the panacea for fixing some problems!