Taylorsville Lake 2016 Spawn

All lakes have their up and down years.
Don't think for a minute that the huge harvest doesn't affect the population.
A lot of people believe that this years good size and population is due
to last years spring and fall flooding which kept many fish from being caught.
If that is true, there's your proof.
A lot of people gave up on Taylorsville years ago for crappie but the word is
out and there have been record numbers of fishermen this spring,
and they're taking out a lot of fish.
I've never seen so many fishermen as this year.
Settlers Trace has been almost full during the regular week days.
More than what used to be on the weekends.

I agree JC, I have never seen Settlers Trace overflow lot being used in the early spring. Even when I snuck out of work on a Tues or Weds the boat ramp would be packed.

Yesterday the ramp was full at Settlers Trace. But I also noticed a lot of them were bass or catfishing. That's another great thing about Taylorsville that I love. It's a trophy bass and catfishery. Those two being as good as they are also help your crappie population. I wouldn't expect to see a diminish in the crappie population. It's a bigger lake and very deep. It'll be very very very hard to overharvest any of those three fish species as long as the current regulations are in effect and the anglers follow them.... I know some break the rules. But most do.

I agree. I do trust the biologists. I have witness them shocking and recording so I know they keep a close eye on things. I also agree with bubba. Starting last summer we had single pole fished several over a pound. Last year we placed second in the kosair tourney with 8.98lbs and this year all three places weighed in over 11 and there were more over 10 as well. The lake does get fished alot but I think that is critical for a healthy population. And the biggest change I've seen this year is the white fish quality. It used to be a bummer for us when we were catchin whites cause the blacks were so much healthier (thicker and longer) but the white fish quality we have seen this year has been much better.
Another difference with tville in my experience is it gets blasted in the spring with fisherman but just a small percentage of boats will fish throughout the year, as opposed to some of the larger lakes in the state where lots of fishing goes on throughout the summer and fall.

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KyWarEagle, you are right on the money. Starting last fall, CrappieSnob and I started noticing the size of the whites improve. We used to catch 90% black keepers. Now it's about even, if not larger whites now.

I also think it is critical for a lake to get fished hard instead of overpopulating, which causes stunting and puny fish, as long as it has the means to support every year class. I have also noticed the dramatic increase in baitfish. In the fall, whole creek arms can be covered in them. There is definitely plenty of forage. I think the lake has plenty of capacity and forage to support large amounts of quality fish for years to come. All we can do is keep fishing and find out!

There is no doubt that the crappie fishing is better than its ever been,i have fished this lake since it was filled,there were a couple of decent years when it was 5-7 yrs old but never anything close to what it is now. I read an article in a magazine,maybe ky game and fish i cant be sure but it said that tville along with 2 or 3 more,i think paintsville was one also.was a lake that the kdfwr felt needed to stock heavily to boost its crappie population and that was done,and it also said that ky made a trade for some of our elk to maybe missouri,not sure but it said that we received a very large amount of crappie fry in that trade and tville got some of those also. this has been about 3 maybe 4 yrs ago best i remember-tville was on a list of lakes to watch in the future. I was checked in late march by a creel survey officer and spoke to him about continued stocking efforts and he said they were evaluating the lake yearly,he also told me that tville was stocked this past sept with hybrid sauguy-walleye sauger mix. I to fished the Kosair tourney sunday and had a nice limit but not any big fish, think we came in 11th place,i live 10 minutes from the settlers ramp and try to sneak up there after work when i can during the week and i have seen the lot full on weekdays as well-i dont like to go there on weekends for that fact. geuss well have to wait and see-its been a fishermans dream for sure.

T'ville has been stocked in the past with crappie, which shows it's not
always self sustaining.
Every year is different, that's why they regularly check it.
I wish they would impose a 10" size limit.
Maybe even a slot limit.
The big ones are what restocks the lakes the most,
the smaller ones can't defend the nests against the larger fish as well as the larger crappies do.
So maybe all the ones over 12" should be released.
I don't know, but I do believe that last years lesser harvest
made this a banner year, proving fishing pressure does affect it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JCCLARK

T'ville has been stocked in the past with crappie, which shows it's not
always self sustaining.
Every year is different, that's why they regularly check it.
I wish they would impose a 10" size limit.
Maybe even a slot limit.
The big ones are what restocks the lakes the most,
the smaller ones can't defend the nests against the larger fish as well as the larger crappies do.
So maybe all the ones over 12" should be released.
I don't know, but I do believe that last years lesser harvest
made this a banner year, proving fishing pressure does affect it.

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According to what I can find on the web ... 20,900 White Crappie were stocked in 2011 ... and according to a KDFWR article, there was another stocking in the Fall of 2013.
Also in that article, Chris Hickey (Fisheries Research Biologist) said they reach 9" in about two years ... but, I'm not too sure about that. I'm thinking it's closer to three years @ Taylorsville, but I could be wrong. :dono

They put Blacknose in Paintsville Lake ... and I wish they'd consider Taylorsville for a stocking of Blacknose !!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by johnbobby

I was checked in late march by a creel survey officer and spoke to him about continued stocking efforts and he said they were evaluating the lake yearly,he also told me that tville was stocked this past sept with hybrid sauguy-walleye sauger mix.

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According to this study - http://fw.ky.gov/Fish/Documents/FishBulletin117.pdf - the stocking of Sauger was done in the Salt River, BELOW the dam at Taylorsville (& not in the lake, itself). It was also halted in 2014, as there was no evidence that a sustainable fishery could be maintained.

That may have been what the Creel Survey Officer was talking about ... :dono

The only fish I know of, that have been "added" stock to the original population of the Salt River, when Taylorsville Lake was formed ... is Hybrid Stripers & Blue Cats. There was talk of putting in Spoonbill Catfish, years back, but Blue Cats were stocked, instead.

There was sauger already there, below the dam.
They come up from the Ohio River when releasing a lot of water.
I like them as well as crappie.
I'd be surprised if they could even live in Taylorsville Lake.
They require clean water and Taylorsville has had some real bad
pollution problems ever since it opened.
It's much worse than most people believe.
The Corp has had a lot of study on the subject
and at one time was considering building a aquifer up at Van Buren.
(whatever that is ?)