Thread: Sardis Meeting Summary

Thanks for the report Stan.

Way to go jig men!!!

The COE lakes are to crappie fishing what pike co Illinois is to deer hunting. People know their potential, and will come for miles around. It is good to know they are looking into the water level issue, and trying to protect the population. It's hard for me to complain because I'm not a biologist, but hopefully these rules will help sustain the population and bounce back stronger in years to come. It really is a great fishery, catching a 12" fish is something many people don't get to do a lot. Hopefully it will all work out and not upset too many

WTG Stan! Good info, it gets a little uncomfortable to be in a room full of anti-trollites Remember habitat day at Butla last year?

I always get a lot of great insight from Keith Meals, it is sad to hear that the people interrupted his presentation. Keith is not only a biologist but an avid fisherman and hunter with many years of research on the COE lakes and other lakes in this area and he is a wealth of info on all of the fish species in the lakes, not just crappie. I think they have done a great job managing the resource, and every time I have asked him a question directly I have gotten a detailed and informative response, and I always come away from the experience with a better understanding of how the overall ecosystem works on these lakes. They know when the good and bad spawning seasons occurred; they know why the crappie run larger at Butla and Grenada and smaller at Enid, and in-between at Sardis, there is a real explanation for these things and they work full time 12 months a year to stay on top of the constantly changing conditions.

As far as the guys who sit back and say that out of staters, the internet, and trollers are killing the lakes, they are really just blowing wind with no basis for their assertions. There are biological reasons why one year is better than the other on these lakes, the weather, the water levels, the fact that the corps doesn't manage these lakes for fishing but for flood control, these are all variables that the biologists have no control over, other than to implement the best regs they can to protect and sustain the resource.

I'm attaching an article from way back in 2006, long before crappie.com got big enough to be a factor and pretty well in the early stages of the year-round trolling pressure that the lakes receive today. This was when they were first contemplating the "new" 12" rules on the COE lakes, and it explains why. This was never a "trophy fishery" plan but more to offset the increasing pressure. The increasing pressure is partially from out of state, but mostly it is from in-state increases, as you will see if you read this article...btw, Keith Meals was the source for most of this also...
Of course most of the guys that interrupted the presentation will probably never read this or anything else for that matter, why let the truth get in the way of a good story I guess…

**Grenada Lake: Trophy Crappie Management Being Proposed:January 20, 2006
Jackson - The Commission on Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks voted 4-1 Wednesday, January 18, 2006 to institute changes in the crappie length and creel limit at Grenada Lake. The changes came following requests by Department biologists that the trophy status of Grenada merited such added restrictions. A public hearing has been set for Tuesday, February 7, 2006 at 7 PM at Hugh White State Park. The new regulations, which call for a 12-inch minimum length and a creel limit of 15 fish per angler, will take effect March 23, 2006.
Grenada Lake has a reputation for producing huge crappie. It has gained nationwide notoriety from record-setting tournaments the last few years. A tournament last spring was won with a 2.92 lb. per fish average! Grenada Lake is to crappie what Lake Fork, Texas and the Stick Marsh in Florida are to bass.
Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks fisheries biologists have determined Grenada crappie get so big due to a combination of fast growth and age. With fishing pressure normally less than half that of Sardis, enough crappie survive to reach trophy size at six years of age or older.
However, the MDWFP creel survey on Grenada in 2005 found fishing effort (hours) roughly doubled from the 2001 survey. In 2001 it had roughly doubled from 1997. Fishing pressure (hours per acre) has risen to that of some of the other north Mississippi flood control reservoirs.
**Many local Grenada Lake anglers would blame the higher pressure on nonresidents, and the survey did find nonresidents (other than Memphis, TN) rose from 5% to nearly 15% of all anglers since 2001. However, residents from 40 of the state's 82 counties were represented, up from 23 counties in 1997. Folks came from all corners of the state. Anglers from Tishomingo to Desoto counties, to Hancock, Pike, and Jackson counties, most drawn by the lure of big crappie. Grenada is a public lake so restricting access would be nearly impossible.
**During the survey, crappie anglers were asked about stricter regulations in the face of the increasing fishing pressure. Of those surveyed: 93% supported stricter regulations; Of those, 30% wanted a higher minimum size limit only; 5% wanted a lower daily limit only; and 65% wanted both a higher size limit and a lower daily limit.
A 12-inch crappie is by most comparisons a one pound fish. The 2005 survey found the average Grenada Lake crappie harvested weighed 1.2 lbs. The new limits should not discourage tournaments, since their daily limits are much lower than state regulations. Anglers participating in crappie tournaments made up less than 0.5% of all crappie anglers in the survey. In contrast, 44% of bass anglers were tournament fishing.
**Keith Meals, MDWFP fisheries biologist notes, "As fishing pressure increases, the big fish will disappear without additional measures to keep some fish in the lake long enough to get that old. We're not trying to create a trophy crappie fishery, we're trying to maintain one."

what I have seen and heard from single polers is just pure jealousy that they can't compete. They will always whine and moan, yet I see more of them keeping short fish than any of the trollers I know. We see envy and jealousy raise its ugly head every day, the world of fishing is no different

Good report Stan.
I took two things away from the meeting last night. MDWFP has a handle on this. There's going to be good years followed by bad years. But they have our best interests at heart.
Secondly, the single polers would shut us down in an instant.

Your right Rob, I was in the same position we were in at habitat day at Butla last year but with more angry people. Something seems wrong about being criticized for they way I prefer to fish when we spent all morning in 8 degree weather building structure for the single polers to fish.

Okay, I am a single pole jig person and I think the most negative comments from guys like me is that in the past people with pontoons would have lots of people on their boats and they were taking way too many fish out for the number of people actually fishing. Honestly, there is too much pressure on all of these lakes with little to be done about that. Crappie.Com has made all of these lakes more appealing to those who live out of state. The fish population can't sustain the amount of pressure that is being put on the Big 4. We all know that something has got to give which means we will all have to give and take. I am glad we are at least having someone to watch out for these lakes because honestly, I felt like we woluld have a good year this year since we caught so many short fish last year, but the pressure has not let off since the spawn. You can go to Sardis on any given day, low water level or not and boat after boat will be putting in Crappie Fishing. The single jig pole folks basically have the pre-spawn, spawn and post spawn to fish which is normally Feb-end of April maybe May on a normal year. You would make many people like me happy if they would do anything to protect that time of the year and make sure we have a decent fish population to have a shot at.