12" limit lake grenada ms. - 2013 tournament results. 64 with over a 2#average!!!

[catfish44]

THIS IS WHAT GRENADA'S 12" LIMIT, 20 fish bag, HAS BROUGHT:NEW RECORDS SET AT GRENADA-COX & HOCKETT WIN THE MISSISSIPPI STATE CHAMPIONSHIP 2013. let's try a 12" limit on lake talquin.
New Crappie Masters tournament records were set during the big fish Grenada Lake, Mississippi State Championship. Pre-fishing during the week was a little tougher than the competition days, as a cold front moved through on Monday dropping water temperatures 4-5 degrees. As the week progressed, temperatures steadily warmed. Water temperatures at night stayed warmer going into the final pre-fishing day and by the final pre-fishing afternoon the bite was on.

Sponsored by Bass Pro Shops, Tracker Marine, Humminbird, Minn Kota, Mercury Motors, Rockport Rattler and the Grenada Tourism Commission, 109 teams competed with the top 14 teams eclipsing the previous two day total weight record. The Ozark Rods sponsored team of David Cox and Steve Hockett (pictured left) set the new 2-day tournament record. The previous record was 35.52 lbs. on fourteen fish. Cox and Hockett weighed in a total of 38.92 lbs. to become the Mississippi State Champions.

The previous single day (7 fish) record weight was 19.33 lbs. Six teams eclipsed that record with Jay Don and Rhonda Reeve setting the new single day record with a weight of 20.54 lbs. Jeff Riddle and David Maddux (pictured right) set a new big fish record with a 3.87 lbs. slab. Twenty nine teams weighed in a crappie over 3 lbs. and 64 teams weighed in over a 2 lb. average. The average weight per fish over the course of the tournament. i would love to see these size fish in lake talquin.

[Rees Guide]

I honestly don't think the 12 inch rule is having any effect on it. Grenada has always had GOOD fish and this year will be an exceptional year. The early draw down last year really helped as we didn't loose many crappie to the spillway over the winter. Crappie Masters hit it just right it was an awesome tourney, one that will hold the records for a long while to come. Grenada is unique but it also has its ups and downs, we are definitely seeing an up year too.

[catfish44]

I honestly don't think the 12 inch rule is having any effect on it. Grenada has always had GOOD fish and this year will be an exceptional year. The early draw down last year really helped as we didn't loose many crappie to the spillway over the winter. Crappie Masters hit it just right it was an awesome tourney, one that will hold the records for a long while to come. Grenada is unique but it also has its ups and downs, we are definitely seeing an up year too.

thanks for the feedback.

[crappielimits]

I honestly don't think the 12 inch rule is having any effect on it. Grenada has always had GOOD fish and this year will be an exceptional year. The early draw down last year really helped as we didn't loose many crappie to the spillway over the winter. Crappie Masters hit it just right it was an awesome tourney, one that will hold the records for a long while to come. Grenada is unique but it also has its ups and downs, we are definitely seeing an up year too.

Talquin has always had good fish too! Though, with added fishing pressure the number of fish in the 2 to 3 pound class has dropped. We used to have drawdowns every 8-10 years and these have been stopped due to the local economy. Talquin has the shad population to support more crappie and bigger crappie. The fishing has been great this year, but it could be better with regulation changes and enforcement. All studies show 8-10 inch crappie are the best spawners, but not much research on the effects of releasing the 10-12 inchers.

I know Grenada has always been a great crappie fishery with many 3 pound fish. Can you honestly say or do you have any research to prove your claim that the regulations have not helped that lake? How long has these regulations been in effect?

[crappielimits]

There were 30 fish over 3 pounds!

[Rees Guide]

There were 30 fish over 3 pounds!

More like 50 over three pounds, the list just showed the biggest that teamed weighed and a lot of them had mutibles, 20.54 stringer had to dang near be all 3 pounds, speck its way more than 50.
Don't have any research so much as just 33 years of fishing the lake, think they started the length limit around 15 years ago but Grenada has been putting out good fish all it's life.

[crappielimits]

I am just saying because 12 to 15 years ago Talquin was putting out similar if not better weights in tournaments when compared to Grenada then. One difference though is the fact that Talquin is black crappie only.

[crappielimits]

Also 15 years ago no 3 pounders weighed in, now you say 50! We have good fish in Talquin, our question is about sustaining fish in the 2.5 to 3 range as we have had in the past. A better result would be the 3-3.5 pound fish found on Grenada.

[Rees Guide]

Crappie Masters hit it just rite for sure, 15 or 20 years ago there weren't any crappie tourneys here to speak of. Our crappie in Grenada are almost all white, I think I caught 2 blacks all year long last year. Also this is an exceptional year too, just a good class of fish that the Good Lord produced.

[crappielimits]

I have been doing my research and numbers from all documented tournaments at both lakes as I was fishing the trails back then. The spring tournament times for Grenada were always within the same two to three week period from the end of March to the first of April. Last week tournament fell in that same time span. The first was the 2000 classic which only weighed in 27.77 over 3 days with a big fish of 3.16. An April 7, 2001 tournament was won with 16.39 and big fish was 2.64. The next year Grenada on April 6, 2002 brought 15.39 and big fish of 2.34. While Talquin took 18.03 and a big fish of 2.61 on January 19,2002. The next year the Grenada tournament was a 3 day event on September 17-20, 2003 total of 29.06 weighed 3 day total and a big fish of 2.77. Talquin was fished on January 18, 2003 and took 18.66 and a big fish of 2.9. The key year for Grenada was the next which took 25.83 on March 27, 2004 and a big fish of 3.43. These were all totals from when the tournament creels were 10 not the 7 they are now. I have tremendous amount more of research but these are the key numbers as it shows a good comparison and a change from then to now. One key point is Talquin has always had its tournaments in January or February which are not considered peak times to for crappie there and before fish are in prespawn mode usually as we get a lot of fronts then. Lake Talquin too is having an exceptional year, but nothing like we had in 1999 or 2003. Unfortunately, there has not been tournaments in the last couple of years at Talquin, but several of us have been keeping up with our catches. Not trying to compare lakes, as they are two totally different elements. Just want to consider management programs in hope of helping ours lake reach its best potential. Our lake can not sustain white crappie, so the 3 to 4 pounders will be a rare occurrence, but we should have more in the 2.5 to 3 pound range. If you could find out for me when you regulations changed I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you for your input on our project. If you ever plan a trip this way I will put you on a limit of black crappie in return. Talquin is one of the best Black Crappie lakes in the country and we'll worth the trip.