D-10 what is your thoughts about Keeping big female crappie with EGGS!!! A Do keep or release?
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D-10 what is your thoughts about Keeping big female crappie with EGGS!!! A Do keep or release?
Jackie, I think this comes down to personal preference and what lake you are talking about. If it is a lake with excellent reproduction, recruitment, and growth (such as Conway). I don't think it makes much of a difference. I look at it this way. If throw back a big fish one day, it will probably get harvested the next day by someone else. This probably sounds kind of selfish to some folks, but I am just being honest. You have to remember that crappie are prolific spawns in most lakes. Here is food for thought. I have aged 4 crappie over 2.5 pounds that I have caught over the last month. They were all only 3.5 years old! That is outstanding growth! So in the right conditions, it doesn't take very long to grow some slabs. Another thing to remember is that crappie will start to develop eggs and sperm in inly their second year of life. Trust me, their are a lot of individuals spawning in the spring. Year class strength (success of the spawn) is more dependent on environmental conditions than the number of slab females in the population. What we don't want to do is turn our crappie fisheries into what the bass fisheries have turned into. In my opinion the catch and release attitude of bass anglers has made the management of this species very difficult. Believe it or not, harvesting some bass out of a population is a very good thing. That is the beauty of managing crappie. People actually harvest crappie in large numbers! This makes attempts to improve their populations possible with various management stratifies (minimum length limits). With no harvest, it doesn't matter what kind of regulations you impose. It wouldn't make a difference. Sorry for the long drawn out answer. Yes, I harvest big females. Maybe one day when I have caught my fair share, I will start throwing them back like my buddy Chris. I haven't caught nearly enough yet!
We to have been catching females Not 3 lb er's and talking about should we keep the big females are turn them loose and keep the smaller ones!! I said I knew someone Who knew the answer!! Thank you Sir!! (Greers Ferry)!!!
Just out of curriosity, what are y'all's opinion/feelings about this question. What do you think. After all, everyone is entitled to their own opinion.
I would turn it loose:dono
D-10 Nice Trophy Crappie!! Did,not mean any harm!! Just a question for me and my friends fishing Greers Ferry seems
like the crappie fishing the last couple of years as been great!! Back like the old days of crappie fishing on Greers Ferry!! Wanted to know if keeping the females with eggs was harming the crappie population!!! Thanks Would love to catch a 3 lber would go on the wall!! If my Boss said it was OK!!!!!LOL!!! Have 10 lb Bass and a 4-10 oc Smallmouth out of Greers Ferry!! Caught a 5 lb 2 oz she still swims!!! Thanks D-10!!!
somedays i catch and release others i load the boat , i like to eat em and i keep em all, however the larger fish really dont fry up as good as the 10-12 inchers imo! but to each his own as long as its legal by all means do what makes you happy! dont really think it matters when it comes to the outcome of the spawn
That is why I bake the big ones! It is kind of like baking walleye. My wife loves it!Quote:
Originally Posted by Crappie Greg
How can you determine a crappie's age and sex?
You can determine a crappies age by removing its otoliths (ear bones) and examining them. It ha rings on it like a tree. This time if year, I can only determine sex reliably by cutting it open and looking at its sex organs. In the spring, the males get darker. Some people just assume that the really large crappie are females. This is not always true.
If it's a legal keeper, it will feed us. Have never caught a limit because I couldn't eat one. Prefer fresh over frozen anytime, but will freeze a few if the opportunity
presents itself. If a large female is oozing eggs, she will be returned to the water to spawn.
I know you meant no harm Jackie. No harm taken. I know that you are one the good guys!Quote:
Originally Posted by jackie53
Went to Arkansas Tech to be a Biologist and work for the Game and fish!! Stayed on Dardanelle Bass fishing too much!!LOL!!Quote:
Originally Posted by D10
Did get to release walleye on Greers Ferry once!! From your Game and Fish release pin's!!! Hard work!! Thanks again
Enjoy reading and learning form you post!!
I release most of what I catch simply because I am stocked up and dont want to clean em. I dont see much point in giving them away every time, JMO. I cant say that I have ever released one just because it was full of eggs. What if I had caught it six months earlier? Either way, it doesnt get to spawn. If you want to keep it, keep it. Its not going to make much of a difference.
The lakes that have real high populations and need thinning I say keep a limit every time you can. I give most of mine to old folks around the neighborhood. I think if we lower the numbers on lakes like Nimrod it will help growth rates.
Lake Washington gets hammered every spring and I don't think anyone throws anything back, and it continues to produce trophy crappie year after year. The down years usually occur after bad weather years when spawning conditions are poor.
This is exactly what I am talking about. Thanks for adding some perspective from a non-Arkansas lake.Quote:
Originally Posted by rockmike
Error.
D10, would you share your baking recipe?
Here is a simple recipe.Quote:
Originally Posted by stormcloud
-Preheat oven to 500 degrees
-Pour melted butter into a 9x13-inch baking dish.
-Place the fillets into the butter
-Sprinkle evenly with lemon pepper and fresh basil.
-Bake in the preheated oven until the fish is opaque and easily flakes with a fork, 5 to 7 minutes.
I have also used OldBay seasoning and Tony Chacharees. This method of cooking works best on large fillets. My wife prefers the lemon pepper and basil.
I also have a killer recipe for crappie cakes (think crab cakes). It got published in the AGFC 100 anniversary Cook Book.
Good info D10, Keep up the great work.
If your a keeper keep them, if your a tosser then toss them :fish
We have a fairly nice sized reservoir on our farm. We drain it every 8-10 years to replace irrigation pipes. We never restock it. After the first year, we catch the crap outa the crappie, but they are all small. After the 2nd year catch alot of slabs. On 3rd and 4th year best fishing anyone has ever saw. Huge crappie and alot of em, several 3+ pounders per year. For the longest time we were being conservative and keeping very few of the fish. After 4th year fishing would start on a downslide and be just terrible by the 6th. So.... we started keeping everyfish we would catch. We noticed after doing that, that the fishing stayed better until the 6th year or so before starting the down slide. By yr 8-10 we would drain dry and replace pipes. And the cycle starts over again. Reservoir is 48 acres. Long story short, crappie can over populate pretty easily unless kept in check. We found out the more we took advantage of what god has given us, the more he gave. I understand not every lake is not the same as my reservoir, but it has been neat to be able to look at what is happening and being able to see a "trend" after each cycle. My opinion, nature will take care of itself if we take advantage of it. And with the help of wildlife geniuses like D10 can take what nature has to offer and improve it. I like minimum length rules, but definitely believe in keeping crappie. It benefits them in the grand scheme.
I am no genius. I can assure you of that! LOL! But thanks for the vote of confidence. Very cool story about your pond. It is a perfect example of the cyclical nature of crappie. This is also a good demonstration of a management drawdown working like it should. Thanks for your input.Quote:
Originally Posted by LowePro
In 2010 Nimrod was pulled down and fishing was much better starting the next year. There was a plan to draw down 5' below low pool every 5 years.. Hope they keep this plan. Bass fishermen hated it but all fish seemed to improve after the drawdown. Here the dry lake bottom grows swamp grass releasing nutrients bound up in the mud and gives food chain a boost. At the same time the lower water allows predators and fishermen thin out the over populated crappie leaving room for the rest to grow. Is there anything you want to add Matt ?
You pretty much summed it up. Good job.
Really enjoyed reading your posts D10. Always trying to learn more about these fish. I believe in your harvest theory. One of our central Illinois lakes is thriving due to good harvest practices being kept in check with size/creel limits. What can you tell me about crappie carrying eggs into the winter months? It seems odd to me that fish have eggs sacks in 35 degree water. Thanks for sharing.
I'll answer that and maybe Matt can chime in. Crappie start forming next springs eggs in fall for the coming spring. They feed up heavy over fall/winter ,form eggs and get bulked up for the stresses of spawning next spring. I had a fish farmer tell me they spawned again in the fall but i never was aware if it ever happened here. Water temps rule when Crappie spawn each spring. I saw some that failed to completely spawn out this year with wild swings in water levels and temps. They reabsorb the ones not spawned out. What did I leave out Matt ?Quote:
Originally Posted by healthnspector
Sounds good to me. Crappie definitely do not spawn in the Fall in Arkansas. I am not aware of them spawning in the Fall any where. We have been gill netting Hybrids on Greers Ferry the last 2 weeks and hybrids and white bass also have very developed reproductive organs. Especially the males. Almost half of their body cavities are filled with almost fully developed sperm sacks.
Great read
No expert here, but I agree about the fish developing eggs for next spring. I think most people think the fish are spawning in the fall because they find these developing eggs in the fish they catch, and the fish have congregated in similar areas that they use in the spring due to the water temps, and the location of the bait fish that that water temperature puts them in.
If I catch enough for a mess they're going in the freezer! We eat fish all year long. If the freezer is full enough I will have a fish fry or give some away.Quote:
Originally Posted by D10
I am torn on this question as well, mainly due to the lake I fish quite often. Its only about 200 acres and has been very heavily fished the past two years because the crappie have finally gotten to that "slab" size we all like. I have boated many 13-14" fish the past year when just a few years ago you would be lucky to catch anything over 7-8". There is a 30 fish, no minimum length limit and I do believe that "thinning out the small herd" helped the size situation. My only fear now is whether or not it can withstand the pressure year after year in the spring like the past two. I have counted up to 60 boats on this little lake in the spring and although I know not every boat is taking out two limits of fish, there are tons being caught. On lakes of this size is it pretty safe to assume that fishing should continue to be good or will the spring time pressure hurt the numbers in the end?
My opinion is it depends on the waters , some places are over populated and it slows growth rates . I take a limit nearly everytime I can even though I usually give them away.Quote:
Originally Posted by mitch_ward
If I want some fish I will keep some. If I don't need them, they get released. I don't concern myself with which ones to keep.
D10, when you bake those thick filets, put a raw onion slice on top of them. I like that and a little lemon juice in the bottom of the dish to cook in. We rarely fry any
I bet my wife would like that. I'm not an onion guy but I do squeeze a little lemon juice on the fillet when I have fresh lemons.Quote:
Originally Posted by arkcrappie
Ok then. Thanks for the information D-10 and Nimrod. Could these egg sacks that I'm seeing this time of year actually be sperm sacks? Are they the same color as eggs?
The males have a white to greyish color sacks and the females will be yellowish orange. The more developed they get into the spring, they will start to develop more blood vessels in the egg sacks.
D-10, I agree with your answer but how do you attribute the need for the AGFC crappie nursery pond at Lake Conway? If the crappie are so successful at spawning wouldn't the lake provide enough replacements on its' own?
Very good question! The nursery pond most certainly played on integral role in the success of Lake Conway's fisheries in the early days. It also is very important when we are coming off of a major drawdown. What we are uncertain about is its effectiveness during the other years. That is why we stocked 160,000 chemically (OTC) marked crappie into the nursery pond canal this year to simulate a nursery pond stocking. Next year we will be able to go out and collect 100 age 1.5 year old and look for the OTC mark on their otolith. OTC leaves a fluorescing ring on the annuli, that is only visible under a certain wave length of light. You can not see I with the naked eye. OTC is not harmful to the fish or other animals that may consume the fish (humans included). We will then be able to determine what percentage of the Age 1.5 year old fish were stocked this year or naturally produced. So hopefully after next years sampling season. I will be able to better answer your question. Thanks.Quote:
Originally Posted by Skunkum
I think CrappiePro catches so many crappie at Lake Conway that the OTC will eventually make him glow in the dark. That's a Good thing as he will be much easier to follow. [emoji12][emoji12][emoji12][emoji12][emoji12]
Kinda reminds me of a Johnny Cash song, "I Saw the Light". [emoji4]
This might be a Guberment Conspiracy to make all the better fishermen Glow so they can track your movements to your best fishing spots. I'm suspicious. [emoji35]