Thread: Missy water temps

The average size is still much better then last year. Last year you had to work to even find a 10 inch fish. I have caught limits this year and don't feel bad when i do. I didn't take a fish home tonight that was less then 11 inches. I didn't have a limit but thats fine with me, i have a lot of fish already anyway. I probably released 3 limits of dinks though. Fish are everywhere on the banks right now.

Originally Posted by colt1888

The average size is still much better then last year. Last year you had to work to even find a 10 inch fish. I have caught limits this year and don't feel bad when i do. I didn't take a fish home tonight that was less then 11 inches. I didn't have a limit but thats fine with me, i have a lot of fish already anyway. I probably released 3 limits of dinks though. Fish are everywhere on the banks right now.

my experience is exact opposite, last year we caught a ton of 11-15" fish, this year a ton of dinks. I think I caught 50-60 tonight in a hour and half, kept 15 that were 10-11". Only one fish would have been bigger and it flipped off at the boat. Granted, I haven't tried to find bigger fish, was really just out to have some fun.

I rarely keep a limit, probably keep 150 crappie in a years time. Have no issue with people keeping limits, just don't get the surprise that avg size isn't that big.

My personal opinion is they need to lower the limit to 15 or 20 fish. Lakes in this state, and especially missy, gets hammered. This year is abnormal because there was good ice for a long time and lots of fish caught through the ice. Crappie anglers have gotten so much better at finding and catching fish as well, that times have changed. 10 years ago you hardly ever saw crappie fishermen in the summer, now it is year around. I've fished missy since 1980 on a fairly regular basis, and it has always been a good crappie lake. I do remember when there was less pressure, and the avg size was considerably larger. Shoot I was late for my prom in '88 because I was out fishing with a buddy for crappie. Think we kept 20 that were over 13" with the biggest at 16 1/2 that night. I only remember that because my prom date (and his) were incredibly pissed and we tried to explain to them that the fish were biting. Know they didn't see the humor, and my prom date was from a fishing family.

Or we just settle for a lot of 8-11" fish and call it good.

I always practice selective harvest, I won't keep any under 10" or 10 1/2" and I only take a few limits a year although I catch several hundred each year. I agree the limit should be knocked down to 12 or 15 a day and a minumun of 9" or 10". I see guys every day put every fish they catch on the stringer just so they can say they got a limit, some even keep 6" fish. Seen alot of dinks get taken out this year all in they name of bragging rights. Seen alot of double limits taken where a kid or a wife isn't really fishing but has a rod and a guy will catch both limits. I like a good fish fry but some people must eat fish every day all year round. I was even told once when just having fun catching crappies, if I was just going to throw them back to get out of the way and let someone who's going to keep them fish my spot, yes this really happened.

Now back on topic, think this rain comming in friday will send them back to deeper water ?

Storms might slow it down for a day or so, depends on how bad it gets. They were pretty thick on the bank yesterday and probably today too with as warm as it is. Mostly males, i have only caught 4 or 5 females in the last week and most of those were black crappie. Had better size fish yesterday, took home around 15 all 11 -12 inches. Caught several more in the 10 inch range that i released. Caught most of the fish on a bobber and tube jig, had minnows but didn't even need them. Almost every cast produced a fish for a time in the late afternoon.