Conway Crappie

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Originally Posted by Cmj

No offense Guru, but a female Crappie spawns about 10,000 eggs every year. I have fished lakes that didnt have much pressure and you couldnt BUY a Crappie over 7". I think the pressure is good for a healthy lake such as Conway and as long as two or three fish survive, it will continue to be healthy. I think the feelings of the fishermen are damaged way more than the fish population. JMO


(C.J.)

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No offense taken, everyone is entitled to their opinions. I am glad to hear they spawn 10,000 eggs a year, but study up on that survival rate. There are thousands of water turkeys and great blue heron cranes not to mention bass and catfish and other predators that have a large impact on that survival rate. I have moved on to other lakes and ain't missed a beat, still catching plenty of nice limits of nice fish. I don't have feelings. Can't hurt something a person don't have. I quit worrying about Conway a while back, I wish their was 2 or 3 hundred or more boats a day there fishing. Pressure is a questionable issue, it's like when you get a new puppy and are house breaking it, after you discipline it enough it finally gets smart and stops doing what gets it in trouble. It's called education, the fish get educated also just give them time, when they see the same thing over and over again they get smart. JMO

But those were some nice fish you caught. Congrats.

Fair enough, there's always at least two ways to look at every issue. If The pressure is hurting the lake,well i sure do enjoy contributing to it's demise!!!


(C.J.)

Nice catch.

I took your advice and did a little research, this is what I found. "In lakes with low bass populations, crappie often overpopulate and become stunted.For crappie to reach larger sizes, populations must experience high total mortality to keep their numbers within the carrying capacity of their habitat. Crappie populations typically exhibit high rates of mortality due to natural causes, but only moderate levels of mortality due to angler harvest. These factors allow for generous harvest regulations in most areas." Quote taken from Texas Park and Wildlife's website.

We had a bad over population (Stunted Fish) problem at Horseshoe back 20-25 years ago, and the ARGF stocked Hybrid bass that was supposed to help. It did some good I think, but we still don't have limits of 1.5 to 2lbers. The fish are better average size now tho. Bout 1-1.25 when they're on.


Big River Marine
Bill Burnett
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Originally Posted by BigRiverMarine

We had a bad over population (Stunted Fish) problem at Horseshoe back 20-25 years ago, and the ARGF stocked Hybrid bass that was supposed to help. It did some good I think, but we still don't have limits of 1.5 to 2lbers. The fish are better average size now tho. Bout 1-1.25 when they're on.

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One problem is over crowding of Crappie but then adding another predator fish can hurt also cause there is only so much forage (Shad and Minnows) to go around.