Show me your recent slabs!

[Shoemoo]

What's happening at Brownlee is illegal, black market selling of Oregon/Idaho crappie. Nothing legal about it. ODFW and IDFG are both reluctant to put a limit on Snake River crappie. When the crappie population is strong there are two cultures that exploit the fishery. They actually have a shuttle that hauls the fish away while the others keep fishing day and night. This is during the spawn. The selling takes place in major cities 300-400 miles from where the fish were caught. The selling takes place in neighborhoods and small fish markets. To buy them you have to be " in the know", kind of like buying anything illegal. Without a limit LEO's have nothing to enforce and once the fish are transported out of the area to the big cities it's out of sight out of mind.

So where's the evidence? I've seen it mentioned on state-specific message boards, but the people talking about it seem long on accusations and short on proof.

Consider the average fish-buying non-angler in either state probably has no idea what a crappie even is, let alone their legal status. Everyone out here seems to be in love with the salmonids, and I imagine the state wildlife departments have their hands too full with stopping poaching of native salmon and steelhead to worry about crappie.

[Oregon slabman]

So where's the evidence? I've seen it mentioned on state-specific message boards, but the people talking about it seem long on accusations and short on proof.

Consider the average fish-buying non-angler in either state probably has no idea what a crappie even is, let alone their legal status. Everyone out here seems to be in love with the salmonids, and I imagine the state wildlife departments have their hands too full with stopping poaching of native salmon and steelhead to worry about crappie.

You believe what you want. Spend some time at the Powder River parks when the crappie population comes back. You'll see groups taking several boxes of fish back each trip. Some of them talk about it openly. Clients on my boat have talked about who is selling the fish by name. There was one guy who bragged to other campers in the campground that he paid for his boat and truck selling crappie. It's not an open market type of selling. It takes place within certain neighborhoods or cultural fish markets.
What you imagine about salmonids has nothing to do with the problem. The economy of towns out here on the Snake River are largely dependent on crappie fishermen. At one time Brownlee Reservoir accounted for more boater hours than anywhere in the state except the Pacific Ocean. Not anymore. Hardly anyone makes the long drive over when crappie numbers are down. Crappie fishermen buy a license just like salmon fishermen and deserve to have the resource they fish for managed just as much as salmon fishermen do. That's a weak excuse.

[6poundtest]

Here's my biggest from yesterday. 14" and a bit.

[Crappie Greg]

Saturday July 27

[KDAVID1]

a few from Sunday

[chaunc]

Some from wednesday.

[shipahoy41]

Some from wednesday.

Those will fry up nicely Chaunc.

[Frank C]

you can sell crappie and perch and gills in NY

[KDAVID1]

A few from the Winter and early spring

[ESBguy]

It hasn't been a great panfish year at Houghton Lake. This was my best day so far, the first weekend of May. These are all 12" to 14" - the perch is 10" for comparison. The next weekend, we had a snow storm, and the fishing shut down for 2 weeks.