I have officially learned why I have read so many times people claiming they do not keep fish under 12 1/8" or 12 1/4".

My buddy and I fished Sardis Saturday morning and had a great day. We caught about 40-50 fish and kept 17 fish.

We pulled the boat out after lunch, when we couldn't stand it any longer, and headed for the house. The game wardens were at the ramp and asked if we did any good, I was honest and told them that we had done fairly well. He asked if he could see our fish so we stopped and jumped out to show him. He looked in the cooler and said he wanted to measure them.

By the end of it all, I had bought a ticket for two short fish. One probably being a 1/16" of an inch short and the other being about 1/8" short. He asked if we were using a drop in style measurer and I confirmed we were. He said those style measurers had made MS a lot of money over the years. For the ease of use, I will continue to use the drop in style but I will also have a metal ruler on board to confirm any fish close before it gets an ice bath.

This is not meant to be a GW bashing thread, he didn't kill a short fish, I did. This is simply a reminder to really check the lengths because we were not out there trying to be outlaws and keep short fish. We had probably thrown back 10-12 fish, or more, measuring between 11-11.75".

We were informed that the mouth of the fish must be shut when measuring a fish. You can pinch the tail but can not open the mouth of the fish to manipulate the length of the fish.

Regardless, I have probably a $200 (or more) bag of crappie fillets at the house. Can anyone please suggest a beautiful bottle of white wine to go with those high dollar fish?