Pymatuning

I was fishing Pymatuning last week and was on a nice school fo crappie, out of no where a guy with two Amish fellas comes drifting past and tells me and my buddy that we need to let those "10" fish go, because there won't be any big one's for the upcoming year. Then he proceeds to tell me he brings clients out everyday. Now let me ask some of you veterans....this is my rule. I have a slot that I keep the fish that slot is 10" to 13" anything under goes back, and as difficult as it is sometimes anything over 13 goes back....also we put a cap on the live well at 40 fish total. Out of frustration that he would even say anything to us, my flesh came through and I spoke ill to him, and for that if you are reading this I do apologize for calling you an idiot that was not right and I am ashamed I did not hold my tongue. For the record that day we kept 30 fish and they were all from 10 - 13 inches, I get to fish maybe 8 times a year do to the fact that I have a young family and am busy with work and church, it would be nice if I could enjoy myself and not have to hear fellow anglers complain about my harvesting methods.....I am sure if you fish it everyday, you take a much greater toll on that lake than I do....I fish it twice a year.

I wouldnt let anybody tell me what I can take and what I cannot take. I can almost gaurentee that if his clients are amish they are taking every fish that they can get some meat off of

I never keep any thing under ten, crappie wise. Don't let him get under your skin. He is only looking out for himself. Heard the Amish are plundering the fish there again this year. My neighbor was up there camping this past weekend, on the Ohio side, and saw their boats loaded with fish.

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Originally Posted by flyfisher2

I wouldnt let anybody tell me what I can take and what I cannot take. I can almost gaurentee that if his clients are amish they are taking every fish that they can get some meat off of

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They do the same here in central Pa. They take bucket loads of fish that are 6 to 9 inches and have all but ruined many of our small, productive crappie lakes.

I see all this complaining about the amish here online all the time but how many of you guys have actually called the hotline number to report what you're seeing at that present time? Doesn't and wont do a bit of good to come on here and post about it days or weeks after you've witnessed it. If you have positive proof of what they're doing, call the authorities. At least then you've tried to do something about it. NOTHING gets done by just posting on a message board. NOTHING.
As for keeping fish, some lakes, like shenango lake for example, need to be weeded out yearly by keeping those 8 and 9"ers. If not, the lake will be over run by them. Who throws 8 and 9" bluegills back? Crappies that size have more meat and the younger fish are safer to eat as they haven't had as much time for the toxins to form in them. Been fishing Pymy for close to forty years and Shenango over 45.

Well I can't speak for Pymy because I've never fished it but I can speak for a few of my local lakes. Chaunc...you asked how many people call the authorities. Here's an example of Faylor Lake here in Central Pa.
There is NO size limit on the lake, so what could any authorities possibly do? I've seen four or five Amish in a boat keep every single fish they would catch regardless of size. Can you honestly tell me that's not going to ruin that lake? Four years ago, we were pulling twelve and thirteen inch crappie from this lake on a regular basis. As of last year, it's almost impossible to catch a single crappie of any size. There is nothing to report anything about because there are no laws being broken.
It is however worth complaining about when you have groups of Amish taking two to three hundred crappie per day that are nothing more than fingerlings from our waters.
I myself have confronted them on a regular basis and it does absolutely nothing. They will laugh in your face.

Your right Chaunc, they should be reported. I have never been a witness to it, but hear others talking about it. If they are in a boat, all you need is the boat number to turn in. Really, I think the guy was trying to get Savedbygrace and his buddy to leave by being a total jerk, and doubt that he is getting paid by them to take them. More like he is in cahoots with them.

people posting pictures of every sink full of fish they catch doesn't help either. its like look what I did, look at what I did, shenango has gone down hill because of this type of posting, the quality of the crappy has really changed because of this

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Originally Posted by shaved ice

people posting pictures of every sink full of fish they catch doesn't help either. its like look what I did, look at what I did, shenango has gone down hill because of this type of posting, the quality of the crappy has really changed because of this

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If you really believe that i'm hurting the lake by keeping so many fish, legally, show me proof. The fact that YOU may not be able to catch the bigger ones is not because they aren't there. You just may not know how or where to find them. Spend some time on the lake as I have and you'll be able to do it like I do. The pictures are to let some people know that the fish are biting. And if you think my freezer is over-flowing, you're wrong. My daughters and grandkids fish my freezer like they have a pole in their hands. Sometimes it doen't have a chance to freeze before it's gone. And there's no change in the quality of crappies. You just have to be a good fisherman, not lucky fisherman, to get em.
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With 3 posts in over a year here, you don't seem to be helping very much if at all. Be nice if you'd really be a part of the group and post some reports from your local lake. That is if you aren't afraid someone will take all your fish.

boy aren't we defensive ! I don't think your name was mentioned . But I understand, and by the way nice sink full of fish love the pic. I guess we all know the fish are biting now. here's a report for you so it will help . lake author east end southern shore, crappy are hitting pink and white tube jigs tipped with a minnow. sink full of fish picture to follow ! we need to keep the 8 or 9 inchers ? Don't see to many pics of those in the sink.

Subject change time: Here's my best Pymy crappie and I got it on the hard water. Best year ever on the ice, great action in March, 13" of ice.Attachment 162421

No sink for this guy, I needed a washtub :)

Lets all be nice now. Nice one Doski, looks like one for the grill, instead of the frying pan.

Estimating by some of the "handles" of the participants in the thread; I will post my comment hoping that it will be received in the right way, in spite of how the words get typed. People fish for different reasons. Some even fishing not for the fish. I find great hope that the originator used this forum to state his wrong and to post his apology even if the other offended party (both were) may never see or read it. Personally, it was a good lesson and warning to me. Wishing full nets for all!

Welcome BigFish.

Fishing guide or not, there is no reason for someone to come up and critize you for doing what's legal. We can sit on here and talk ethics, C&R and all sorts of other subjects................but it's not ok to blindly approach another angler and try to push your opinions on them, unless they are breaking the law. And if you called him something not very nice, more power to ya......
And I'll stay away from the amish controversy.

Crappie were hitting very well today at pyma in the stumps kept 10 slabs most were 12 to 13 inches one was 14. lost a huge bass at boat released about half dozen 7 to 8 inch crappies could not get a walleye bite today got 4 2 days ago. minnows on a 1/8 once jig was he ticket nothing on crawlers today.

Last week Chaunc and I did well on 1/8 oz jigs with blue or chartreuse plastics and the nibbles. Was actually hot, 88 degrees and I heard the bite shut down during the weekend cold snap.

My post was out of conviction of my actions, and to get a feel if others thought harvesting a 10" crappie was hurting the lake. Not to get other anglers conflicting with one another. I wish I could remove the entire string.

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Originally Posted by 153BIGFISH

Estimating by some of the "handles" of the participants in the thread; I will post my comment hoping that it will be received in the right way, in spite of how the words get typed. People fish for different reasons. Some even fishing not for the fish. I find great hope that the originator used this forum to state his wrong and to post his apology even if the other offended party (both were) may never see or read it. Personally, it was a good lesson and warning to me. Wishing full nets for all!

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I don't keep them unless they are at least 10. Under that, they aren't worth my time to fillet.

I wouldn't keep anything under 10 and a limit of 25, I don't want to clean any more than that. Now that size has moved up since I started fishing Pmy more, now it has to be 11.5. I was on the lake last Sat. and the Ohio DNR came over and ask me to do a survey, they wanted to know about how I would feel about a minimum size of 9 in. and a limit of 30 for crappies. I really enjoy your posts on here and another site Chaunc, learned a few things from you

Welcome Rollingrock.

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Originally Posted by Rollingrock

I wouldn't keep anything under 10 and a limit of 25, I don't want to clean any more than that. Now that size has moved up since I started fishing Pmy more, now it has to be 11.5. I was on the lake last Sat. and the Ohio DNR came over and ask me to do a survey, they wanted to know about how I would feel about a minimum size of 9 in. and a limit of 30 for crappies. I really enjoy your posts on here and another site Chaunc, learned a few things from you

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Thanks rollingrock. I try to post as much helpful info as I can, no matter what lake i'm fishing. If you're ever heading to Ky lake to do some bluegill fishing, let me know. I've got a few friends there that will help put you on the fish.
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Fished when we could wed-fri in between the rain storms. Ended up with 20 crappie 10-15 inch, 40 gills 8-9 inch, 10 nice perch, 1 20 in eye. Cats, large an small an white bass, an throwbacks mixed in. The cold front slowed it down, lots of the shallows dropped 5-6 degrees by fri. Over 100 fish caught of diff species. The kids had a great time!

looks like the kids had a great time . congrats on the variety of fish caught.

Thanks! Yeah they loved it, going back in 2 weeks

Hopefully heading up on wendsday . I had surgery on my hand this past thursday and praying to god that I will be able to fish with no probkem

Fished the Linesville stumpfield this morning. Did pretty good in the shallower water. 5 to 7ft produced some good sized crappies. Didn't get any eyes but didn't use any livebait for them. Also got a few nice bass and a few nice perch.
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Nice chaunc! You know how to stay on em for sure