Thread: Catch and Release

Had a great 3 days across the creek this weekend. Lots of fish caught. With enough fish in our freezers, my partner and I released em all. Pay it forward guys. Your kids and grandkids will thank you later.

If ya NEEED em, Eat em. The rest chunk back for another day.




BRM

Nuttin wrong with that !!





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Nothing wrong with that unless your on an over populated lake where they get stunted . Those look like good ones .

Originally Posted by NIMROD

Nothing wrong with that unless your on an over populated lake where they get stunted . Those look like good ones .

Then you thrown the dinks on the bank and release the better ones I guess. Our lakes aren't overpopulated.
Lots of freezers are tho.

BRM

Originally Posted by BigRiverMarine

Then you thrown the dinks on the bank and release the better ones I guess. Our lakes aren't overpopulated.
Lots of freezers are tho.

BRM

Come up here and get lots of practice on catch and release . We have an over population problem on some lakes . A 10'' length limit has been tried but with so many the AGFC decided it was counter productive here .

Originally Posted by NIMROD

Come up here and get lots of practice on catch and release . We have an over population problem on some lakes . A 10'' length limit has been tried but with so many the AGFC decided it was counter productive here .

So what IS the solution?


BRM

Originally Posted by BigRiverMarine

So what IS the solution?


BRM

Best we can hope for is fewer floods . When we get our annual floods with this being flood control lake the woods and old fields are full of water . This makes ideal spawning habitat . With huge spawns and when water drops back to normal pool we have way too many fry . This slows growth and hurts the fishery . We need a special regulation for a few years to take the limit off Crappie 9'' and under . But was told they could not do it . Some people keep the little ones but many folks just toss them back .
I would like to see a slot where anything under 9'' would be no limit . I think we could see the lake improve . This limit being raised to 30 could help if everyone kept 30 small ones . But I don't want them . I usually have no problem catching 100 or more but sometimes hard to find good ones .
I think we need more baitfish . Most would disagree with that statement but when most are Gizzard Shad they grow too fast to be prime feed for smaller Crappie . Trouble is a shallow flood control lake gets too cold to over winter Threadfin Shad .
The AGFC did annual studies where they counted what we had in the lake by net barrier across a cove and rotenone for years. Now they are limited to electro fishing and Crappie net traps last I heard. Wish we could hear from the area fisheries biologist . I think they don't have an answer to the problem .
Maybe Matt or one of the other AGFC guys can contact them and have them tell us what they can do . i think the main one in this area is Frank Leone .

Originally Posted by NIMROD

Best we can hope for is fewer floods . When we get our annual floods with this being flood control lake the woods and old fields are full of water . This makes ideal spawning habitat . With huge spawns and when water drops back to normal pool we have way too many fry . This slows growth and hurts the fishery . We need a special regulation for a few years to take the limit off Crappie 9'' and under . But was told they could not do it . Some people keep the little ones but many folks just toss them back .
I would like to see a slot where anything under 9'' would be no limit . I think we could see the lake improve . This limit being raised to 30 could help if everyone kept 30 small ones . But I don't want them . I usually have no problem catching 100 or more but sometimes hard to find good ones .
I think we need more baitfish . Most would disagree with that statement but when most are Gizzard Shad they grow too fast to be prime feed for smaller Crappie . Trouble is a shallow flood control lake gets too cold to over winter Threadfin Shad .
The AGFC did annual studies where they counted what we had in the lake by net barrier across a cove and rotenone for years. Now they are limited to electro fishing and Crappie net traps last I heard. Wish we could hear from the area fisheries biologist . I think they don't have an answer to the problem .
Maybe Matt or one of the other AGFC guys can contact them and have them tell us what they can do . i think the main one in this area is Frank Leone .

Mississippi's Big 4 lakes are all flood plain reservoirs and they dont have that issue. They have tremendous spawns most years. They do have cycles where they don't tho. Why is it that Nimrod is different than those lakes, and overpopulates?


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Originally Posted by BigRiverMarine

Mississippi's Big 4 lakes are all flood plain reservoirs and they dont have that issue. They have tremendous spawns most years. They do have cycles where they don't tho. Why is it that Nimrod is different than those lakes, and overpopulates?



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The difference isn't the spawns it is the recruitment of crappie to the fishery. Just because a lake has a good spawn, doesn't always translate to strong year classes. I spoke with Keith Meals, the fisheries biologist over the MS flood control lakes. He told me that the key to the fisheries down there is that they have poor recruitment (a small fraction of the fish that are spawned, make it to harvestable size). This combined with high length limits and fast growth, grow big crappie. On most Arkansas lakes, we have really good recruitment. It is completely different biologically on the MS big 4 and Arkansas lakes. It is very difficult getting anglers to understand why lake Nimrod isn't like Grenada.

Originally Posted by NIMROD

Best we can hope for is fewer floods . When we get our annual floods with this being flood control lake the woods and old fields are full of water . This makes ideal spawning habitat . With huge spawns and when water drops back to normal pool we have way too many fry . This slows growth and hurts the fishery . We need a special regulation for a few years to take the limit off Crappie 9'' and under . But was told they could not do it . Some people keep the little ones but many folks just toss them back .
I would like to see a slot where anything under 9'' would be no limit . I think we could see the lake improve . This limit being raised to 30 could help if everyone kept 30 small ones . But I don't want them . I usually have no problem catching 100 or more but sometimes hard to find good ones .
I think we need more baitfish . Most would disagree with that statement but when most are Gizzard Shad they grow too fast to be prime feed for smaller Crappie . Trouble is a shallow flood control lake gets too cold to over winter Threadfin Shad .
The AGFC did annual studies where they counted what we had in the lake by net barrier across a cove and rotenone for years. Now they are limited to electro fishing and Crappie net traps last I heard. Wish we could hear from the area fisheries biologist . I think they don't have an answer to the problem .
Maybe Matt or one of the other AGFC guys can contact them and have them tell us what they can do . i think the main one in this area is Frank Leone .

All you have to do to hear what the area fisheries biologist has to say is to call him. Frank Leone 877-967-7577