All this crazy cold weather and the discussions about the spawn got me to thinking. I know....that's dangerous....but I think I am going to change my spring habits. I am not going to keep any crappie over 1.5 lbs the rest of this spring unless it is on tournament day. Just my personal decision. Either they do spawn later or they just metabolize the eggs not laid. Either scenario could have a negative result in the next 3 years. I don't know the biological answers of a crappie's spawning abilities. I do know that if there is a big late spawn with a large number of anglers waiting in the shallows, the end result won't be good. A longer drawn out spawn gives more crappie a better chance to actually spawn before being picked off by a angler.

I have never been the angler that has to have a limit in a cooler to measure my success. Way more days end with fish returned to the water alive. I am more concerned on the smaller lakes like Blackshear that see a ton of pressure. I would rather catch some big ones and snap a picture and post it. I can eat a few 10" fish and be just as happy too.

Tournaments only allow 7 fish to be weighed and I prefer not to crowd my livewell with more than 10 fish. I want those bigguns to have all the water and room they can have until they hit the scales.

Now don't read this as a bash against anyone who keeps their legal limit everyday of the year. I have NO problem with legal anglers. I do believe there are those among us that could care less about any limits set by the State. So be it, and that's all the more reason I am concerned about the future stock of genetically larger crappie being able to spawn those genetically better crappie. The past train of thought was that crappie were prolific breeders and that nature will keep everything in line. Well man has already proven it's ability to manipulate nature's abilities.

Just something to chew on when you are loading the coolers this spring.