Thread: Oconee/Sugar Creek

Crappie populations are cyclic (5 year cycle) on any given lake. Its impossible to "fish out" a lake, since crappie are known prolific breeders. That being said, crappie populations can be hammered to the point that its hard to put a decent fish in the live well. Happens to every lake, big crappie and huge catches are reported and a mass of fishermen, show up and hammer the lake for a couple of years, fish size and catch numbers decline, said fishermen lose interest and move on the next hot lake at the moment. Crappie populations rebound with the decrease fishing pressure.

I wish Georgia would enact a size limit on crappie, but probably never will. I have a personal size limit in my boat and rarely keep a full limit anymore, but to each his own.,

A couple of good books to read on the crappie life cycle is Crappie Fundamentals and Crappie Basics by In-Fisherman.