Hot Button Topic!

Ok here's my hot button
When I lived in Chesapeake Va I used to fish the Suffolk lakes a lot in the 90's for Shellcrackers. It wasn't unusual to catch 50 which was the limit and most of those fish were over 10" and a few would even come close to 2lbs. Word naturaly got out. The Virginian Pilot newspaper's sports writer would even post which lake was hot and how to catch those nice fish. Soon the lake was covered in fisherman all catching 50 fish limits. When questioned about the impact on the fishery with everybody catching 50 fish limits. The Virginia Department of Inland Game and Fishery even went on record as saying that Western Branch was so fertile that shellcrackers couldn't be over fished by just hook and line. And nothing was done to stop the slaughter. This went on for seven years and guess what ??? The fishery collapsed. By the end of 2003 you couldn't (at least me) catch a 50 fish limit of gills and crackers anymore.
However guess what did suddenly start taking all my baits?? Yep you got it, small white and yellow perch. Their numbers went through the roof. Now I know gills and crackers don't eat perch except maybe their fry, but with the cracker numbers down and a fertile lake they just went crazy. They took over the food supply and habitat that was left vacant by the depleted shell cracker population. It got so bad that I just quit fishing Western Branch in 2004 because all I caught was small perch.

Fast foreword to 2011. I went back to Western Branch this past April for the first time and I again caught big crackers but not in the numbers I once did. However the ones I did catch were very large. The biggest one being caught by my friend Mike Whittaker 2lbs 5 oz. ( go to VDGIF under archive fish of the month ) Now most people would say that the fishing in WB is back, but I disagree cause when all you catch are big fish in limited numbers your population is in trouble. You have to have sucessful class reproduction to maintain a healthy population. (Bye the way the small perch were still there.)

So how does this rant relate to crappie fishing ??? Simple, you have to have estabilshed fish limits size and numbers on all fish. These limits must vary according to conditions ie drought, over fishing etc. Fisherman MUST realize that once a fish is taken, particularly a trophy it can't pass on its genes, and when these fish are taken during the spawning season it's a double wammie. That's why I release all my crappie over 2.8 pounds until I finally catch that 4lber I'll probably never catch. This is the only area where bass fisherman and I share the same opinion. Release those big fish to spawn not to the frying pan.

I agree on the wardens checking more livewells as well as bank fishermen,As far as size limits,8 inches is not a very big fish,,but,regardless of the size limits or creel limits they are a lot more violaters out there than honest fishermen and sportsmen,and women,I think we need to make our voice heard by speaking louder and demanding that something be done about the violaters that abuse the right to use our waters,I realize the economy is bad but really,what can a warden do by sitting in his truck with the engine running with a pair of field glasses watching boats,,Staying cool?yes,doing his job? No...We are not getting what we are paying for and we need to be heard,,Whats the quote about the squeeky wheel getting the most grease?,,After all we are paying their saleries,They work for us,,Talk to the higher ups.tell them we are tired of the crap and demand that something be done or license sales may drop seriously,let us be heard!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Why not put a season on Crappie like they do Trout? Make them off limits during the peak spawn. That is when the greatest numbers are caught and the temptation of keeping more than the creel limit is the greatest. Then use the size and creel limit Nat mentioned. I prefer fishing in the Fall and Winter myself anyway.

back a few years their was a crappie turement on our local lakes (Tillery, Badin, Tuckertown), it was one for taged fish. It was on the spawn, I saw guys with coolers full of crappie I even told some guys from S.C. about our creel limits. I called the enforcement but as far as I know nothing was ever done, that was several years ago and the crappie fishing in Badin to me has not fully recorved still.

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Originally Posted by sterkat

That's why I release all my crappie over 2.8 pounds until I finally catch that 4lber I'll probably never catch.

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Just curious, why is "2.8" lbs. your magic number? Or was this a typo? That 15-16 inch crappie has had the same genes from the moment he hatched. Being sexually mature at 1-2 years old, I'm sure he/she has spread their genetic line around somewhere in the lake a time or two. I'm all for releasing big fish (more so during the spawn) however, it's a mute point when it comes to genetics.

Some bodies of water just will not support nor grow the quality of fish that we all want. By imposing a 10 inch limit on fish I'd like to think that these fish get a chance to spawn a time or two in turn passing on their genes. There's no guarantee that the offspring of these 3lb crappie that are released would ever make it to that size in their lifetime regardless of whether they were released at 10 inches or not. One thing is for certain, if he ends up in the grease there's no doubt he's done growing, but as a fisherman and hunter I wouldn't want to see unrealistic restrictions put into place in attempt to grow trophy deer or trophy fish. If it's legal, do as you wish. Have fun and enjoy some fried fish every now and then if you choose to do so.

The secret to any trophy management program is age. You want to deplete your resources, keep on filling the coolers with barely minimum fish. In due time you wipe out an entire slot size of fish for several years to come. To top it all off, like you mentioned, toss in a curve ball from mother nature and you can have some SERIOUS issues with our fisheries.

spot on quickcarl61. down here around wilmington it is a rare occasion to get your creel checked. more than once i've been checked for license, boat equipment, etc., but they've NEVER asked me to open my live well and they only look in coolers to get alcohol. i know their resources are stretched thin, but i'm of the impression that fish management (fresh water especially) comes last on the priority list, and they are more concerned with finding something wrong with your boat than than protecting the fishery. it seems to me that managing and protecting fish and game from poachers and illegal dumpers should be the primary function of the WRC, not something they do to pass time on a slow day. sorry for the negative rant, but i see posts on here quite frequently from people wondering why their creel hasn't been checked in 20 years and this is unacceptable. c'mon WRC! wake up!! don't wait for the fishery to be in peril before you start enforcing size/creel limits, do it now BEFORE stocks are depleted. the black crappie is a native fish of our great state and important to our ecosystems! exponentially more people are targeting crappie now than were just ten years ago, management of the species should follow that trend. hot enough redboat?

alamance, i believe that is what happened to jordan until they established the 10in 20 per limit

WILDLIFE OFFICER not BUI checkpoint this explains their job.PERIOD.

I gotta tell ya, I picked the 12" limit out of thin air as I typed.. but my reasoning was it would be a little bit of a challenge but also let you put fish into the livewell... I'm all for simplicity..not haveing to go look up the regulations to make sure I am correct before I leave to house.. Although I must admit it seems as of late I've been hard pressed to catch a 12" fish! Doh.

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Originally Posted by REDBOAT

I gotta tell ya, I picked the 12" limit out of thin air as I typed.. but my reasoning was it would be a little bit of a challenge but also let you put fish into the livewell... I'm all for simplicity..not haveing to go look up the regulations to make sure I am correct before I leave to house.. Although I must admit it seems as of late I've been hard pressed to catch a 12" fish! Doh.

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ALOT of 10 inch fish go into the cooler at Jordan Lake, I'm not a biologist but I'd be curious to know what a 12 inch limit on fish would do to Jordan Lake. I know that from my experience there are a TON of 10 inch fish in Jordan. I'm assuming the research that's been done that dictates the 10 inch limit probably has alot to do with available food sources for the fish. I'm not up to par 100% on the growth rate of crappie but being the prolific breeders that they are I'm not sure the lake could support a 12 inch limit. Maybe it could?

I may be wrong but for example let's say the lake had a 12 inch limit on crappie. I highly doubt that the 10 inch fish in the spring become 12 inch fish by fall. With that said, if the limit were set at 12 inches you'd have a serious influx of fish the following spring that would normally been placed in a cooler the year before. Now, maybe the lake fits the criteria to support this but if it doesn't what would the outcome be? A 12 inch crappie is going to be an eating machine come spring time, if the shad population can't support an entire extra generation of fish then every species of fish in the lake would begin to suffer. Granted the 12 inch fish would then be the ones tossed into the cooler but could the lake keep up with the 10-11 inch fish that would have to be tossed back?

I know some lakes that a 10 inch limit would leave you going home with one fish sandwich (if you're lucky). Maybe someone with more knowledge about growth rates of crappie could chime in and make light of what I'm trying to say. Maybe I'm wrong all the way around with my way of thinking? :)