When to holler, calf rope.

[free bird]

I've been watching the show at the Darbonne for quite a while now. The shad are in the deep water of the channel, the crappie are concentrated in there gorgeing themselves, and the folks are wearing them out. For miles up and down the channel there are more boats then I've ever seen. Hundreds of boats. Been living on the lake all my life and I've never seen it like this. One thing is the popularity of crappie fishing is (I'd say) at an all time high. I'm proud of that and I'm double proud of the success folks are having.

But I must admit I'm a little concerned about the impact long term on the lake. I find myself wishing for lower limits or slots or something. Idk. I see others who feel the same. Course aint anything I can do so I get out there when I can.

Just wondering your opinion, is there need for concern?

[PomoxisMaximus]

I agree completely! Some people will catch limits daily and just do not know when to stop. It's great to catch fish but at some point it just becomes greedy and the fish population will be impacted. I believe this is what happened to Poverty Point when it was good it was great but now a good mess of perch isn't quite as common. It takes a while for a fishery to rebound from hundreds of fisherman pulling 20-50 fish out daily.

[dbonneb]

I don't see the need to keep more than 20

[trobin]

I've never fished either of those places but I don't keep sac a lait under 10 inches.

[BoarBuster]

I am willing to go for a MLL but I absolutely hate slots. I also favor a limit of 30 fish 10" or longer.

[SLIP-CORK]

50-25-50 back and forth...WP are really vulnerable these days cooped up in the channels and I have a theory. With this winter lingering on and on and then a glimpse of warmer temps, it may have concentrated the pre spawn feeding frenzy plus and more importantly compacting the "water comfort zone" into a tight area. This has been one of the 10 coldest winters over the last 120 years. I think that most all of the fish are concentrated in one tight thermo zone. In salt water areas where there is a deep hole this happens. After a very cold spell those specs and reds end up on the bottom and folks "parlay" on the situation. If it stays cold long enough a fish kill will happen in those areas. I think this run is a result of the cold LONG winter and the effect it has had on ALL the fish. Past winters had warm spells throughout and the fish stayed scattered. Not this year. The extended cold temps put a majority of the fish right where people are catching them. Normal but as Bill Dance says, keep what you can use and......SLIP

[MrPaulAR]

My keepers depend on what my freezer looks like. The last 2 days I kept 20 each day which was every one I caught. Now that I have a decent mess frozen I'll start throwing more back and be more selective.

[Tbone]

FreeBird, I thought the same thing while looking at the fleet today. But from what I've read, crappie are one of the most prolific fish species and can quickly overpopulate a body of water. If you notice on D'Arbonne, the boats are clustered in very specific spots. And they are in the same places every day. You could probably fit all of the white perch fisherpeople that were on the lake today in a very small lake. That leaves a lot of water that is never even fished. Overfishing might impact Poverty Point, but D'Arbonne is six times larger and I doubt if it has much effect. JMHO.

[Micropterus salmoides]

Know of, BUT not ABOUT, d'Bone.
But any time I see the word "lake" and think over fishing, I get very concerned about fish populations though.
But I'm just a river/bayou guy who thinks more on the overpopulation side of the topic. I think the Ichthyology lab ruined me.
Is it muddy water?

[GETDANET]

Wow now. I was there today from 445 til 500 only caught 55 between me and my wife. I hear you on the size limit but I do not live on the lake and are only allowed to fish weekends. I witnessed the crowd experience every time I hung a fish some arse hole was squeezing down me. I would like to see a smaller creek limit on the lake. In my opinion I think there is more boats than people actually catching. Matter of fact out of the boats around us today only about three or four of us where catching. It is still fishing. Not catching.