Thread: Paducah Sun

Yes, the 15 limit at Taylorsville is all right with me.
I go a lot and don't want to clean that many anyway.
I think a minimum size might help better though.
I won't keep them under 10" anyway, but letting the smaller
ones grow a little will also help in larger spawns.

I read the artical this morning and I was shocked. I Have caught mostly small fish. I haven't counted the throw backs but I have kept only 1 out of 4 fish. These were white crappie with almost no blacks. Last year on KY. It was the exact opposite, almost no throw backs and almost no whites. This is the same area and time of year. I have been wondering where all of the blacks are.

I wouldn't be against a limit of 20 fish cause rarely do me and my partner limit out anyway but why not do this. Just close the back 2 or 3 hundred yards of every other bay or every 3rd bay or whatever where nobody can get to them and let 'em do their thing in peace? Just for a month or so. Rotate which bays are closed each year so we all share in sacrificing our favorites bays. I think this would ensure a more steady population in off spawning years than any creel limit reduction.
Mark

Rister was the guy's name, he was saying 74 out of 100 legal size crappie would be caught. I dont know if this is true or not just repeating what I read.

Originally Posted by Greenwing

Rister was the guy's name, he was saying 74 out of 100 legal size crappie would be caught. I dont know if this is true or not just repeating what I read.

he's the KDFWR head Biologist. Again, though ... I think the droughts of years back, and the Zebra Mussel invasion, all helping to produce clearer waters in KY Lake ... have given rise to the dominance of the Black Crappie, and the decline of numbers for the White Crappie. I would think this has had a greater impact, than any "overharvesting". And, with the clearer water, the White Crappie will spawn deeper than normal. Obviously, with the small fish showing up, they have been spawning. Black Crappie will spawn 2-3weeks earlier than White Crappie, around the time when water temps are stable at 55-58deg. And they don't utilize the same spawning habitat.
KDFWR was so concerned about the flip flop of specie domination, that they did the tagging study. They posted the results and weekly progress of their movements. From reading the study, I gathered that the KDFWR guys were about as clueless as the resident anglers, as far as how much different the fish can be. Their habits, habitat choices, water temp choices, water clarity choices, depth range, movement timing, and how soon they come shallow & how long they stay shallow ... are significantly different.

Here's the Paducah Sun article : http://www.redorbit.com/news/science...urce=r_science

I think Paul is being cautiously pessimistic, about the upcoming years. There's been lean years, before ... and the lakes are still top producers, in quantity & quality. We just had to wait thru a couple of lean seasons, until the population could re-adjust. We may have to do the same, in the next few years. And, all anglers (local and non-res) will have to make some adjustments in their timing and methods ... to take advantage of the dominance takeover, by the Black Crappie. If nothing else, that should help take the pressure off the declining population of White Crappie.
Nonetheless ... creel/size limit changes are the easiest and quickest methods of "fixing" things, and they're the cheapest (to KDFWR) to implement. And, if that's what is necessary to help keep those lakes at prime production levels ... I don't think most sportsmen/women should have a problem with it.

........ cp

i believe size limit and slot size would be a bigger benifit then number of catch keep. has proven better in past!!!!! and a 15 fish lmit would not bother a local fisherman which is more likely the haverest 20 time more then the occassional fisherman that comes and get his occassional limit then is not seen till next year!!!

Originally Posted by GatorBait

i believe size limit and slot size would be a bigger benifit then number of catch keep. has proven better in past!!!!! and a 15 fish lmit would not bother a local fisherman which is more likely the haverest 20 time more then the occassional fisherman that comes and get his occassional limit then is not seen till next year!!!

Ditto! Keep 10" to 12" and slot 12" to 15" with a 15 fish limit a couple of years and there would be some trophies. I hate seeing people say they took out 300 fish in a week and most of the in the 13 to 14 inch range. That really hurts the population.