Green river lake question

[CrappieJed]

hi folks in Kentucky...does green river lake have spotted bass?

CJ

[colayn]

Yes it does, Green and most all the other lakes here. Sometimes called Ky bass as well.

[CrappiePappy]

Yep, it sure does !! Daily limit is 6/person ... possession limit is 12/person ... no size limit. And Colayn is correct ... most all lakes, streams, & rivers in KY will have them. Our current State Record still stands at 7lb 10oz (since 1970) !!!

... cp

[CrappieJed]

watching Russ video green river lake and they were pulling alot of crappie...not real big but good eating size...reason i ask there are bunch of us guys here in central and northern cal that believe the crappie population is down in our large reservoir because of the spots. areas i fish use to be loaded with crappies and i mean big ones 2 to 3 pounders and of course tons smaller ones...you guys have any ideas on that?

keep in mind res in cal have major draw downs of hundreds of feet...for what its worth

CJ

[CrappiePappy]

Jed ... IMHO --- I, for one, don't think Spots occupy the same niches as Crappie, therefore they shouldn't be a factor. Now, while it is probable that they do consume the fry & fingerlings of each other's species ... I don't think it's enough to have a major impact on either of these two fish.
Something happens, and the first thing that comes to mind, is that 'some other species' is eating/killing all my Crappie (or whatever). I've heard declining catch rates of Crappie blamed on Catfish, Stripers, Hybrids, Bass, Bluegill, Otters, etc .... and the usual "truth" is that some "condition" changed, rather than any particular species being to blame.

With drawdowns of that magnitude, it would seem that some cover would be destroyed, while other cover was created (albeit not necessarily in the same place). Maybe your Slabs have found another area more to their liking ?? Maybe you've decimated the Slab population in those areas you fish, and they just haven't recouped from the loss of numbers ??

... cp

[CrappieJed]

Interesting Pappy....there really is not alot of crappie guys out here and i only keep 10% of crappie i catch...although i will eat spots too, anyway i /we could be all wrong on this because you certainly made alot of sense but this is what i have experienced in our large res, coves that would typically hold good crappie are now invested with spots, the spots can wipe me out of minnows quick, so that was another concern...i really don't want to blame another fish for a decline of another. something i do see here is lot of guys wont even think of crappie fishing until spring when the fish are nesting and I'm sure they are keeping everything they catch myself i do not take fish off their nests if i do i put them back but thats just me. I have another question if you don't mind...take a look at the pic of the water I'm fishing couple weeks ago, we have had alot of rain this year and the waters have been chocolate for most of the spawning time, i had an old timer tell me that crappie will not have a spawn because of the water clearity...of course i didn't agree...he cant be right?

[CrappiePappy]

Jed ... if you only have Black Crappie in your waters, like the one you're holding in the pic .... then water clarity can be a factor, as they prefer clearer water to spawn in. They also will come to the shallows earlier, and stay there longer than White Crappie. (even after the bulk of the spawn has taken place) White Crappie, on the other hand, prefer a little more murky water conditions (& slightly warmer water conditions).
Crappie will generally "try" & have their spawn, even under less than ideal conditions. But, they can & will pull off from spawning attempts, if the water temps get too high, too quick, or if the water clarity is not conducive to any possibility of success. They would, then, just return to deeper water & consume the protein content of the eggs/milt, as food. It's instinctive for them to try & produce another generation, but also instinctive for them to consider their own survival, first.

... cp