I am not aware of any studies that have looked at the how various handling techniques impact a crappies survival post release.

The reason why trout anglers are so concerned with the handling of trout is for a couple of reasons. One - trout are not a very tough fish. It doesn’t take much to accidentally kill one while attempting to release it (if you don’t know what you are doing).
2 - the majority of trout anglers are strictly catch and release anglers only (a topic for another discussion).

Crappie are pretty tough fish and most crappie anglers are NOT catch and release anglers. They (we) are fishing for dinner. But this trend is changing some as more anglers look at crappie fishing as sport fishing.

Here is an interesting study looking at handling techniques for Largemouth Bass, another predominantly catch and release species.
https://www.wired2fish.com/biology/w...ld-a-bass/amp/



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