Finding Some Crappie While Working

Today we electro fished Conway to take genetic samples (fin clips) of largemouth bass. We do this periodically to determine if the Florida largemouth stocking is having an impact on the genetics of the largemouth population. We found plenty of bass in all sizes but I could help but notice all of the slab black crappie in the areas we were shocking. We also found some areas with thumper bluegill and redear. Here are a couple pictures of us taking fin clips and some pics of fish. The last picture is of a 20 pound brown trout that we collected during our annual sample on the Little Red River. As much as I love my job, all I could think about today was that I should be grabbing my boat and some minners and jigs and go yank those big black crappie out of there. Hopefully I can get out there sooner than later.
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You Conway Pros probably can figure out where we were. :)

Yep them be some gooduns.

Very nice.. What a job!!

Twenty years ago I would have been jealous. You done good.

Looks like Pierce Creek area to me:dono Good job, Matt's and Tom. Y'all put in a lot of hard work so we can go play!

Matt, I'm not sure how long you've been with the AGFC, or how much those trophy caliber fish can be directly credited back to you as a result of your doings, knowledge, or actions. I do know this, your work and effort is well documented and much appreciated by many and most. You're seeing these type fish while these lakes are on your watch. So for that fact alone, there's definitely some due credit to be taken. In one sampling you've provided photo evidence of 3 different species of fish that could easily be personal bests for many weekend and recreational anglers. That bass and obviously that trout could probably serve as some angler's "catch of their lifetime". Those photos serve as motivation, inspiration and fuel the "hope" for me that one day I'll land a trophy 3+ lb. black. All BS, brown nosing, and fairy tale talk aside: You should be proud of the results of your work and effort that you're witnessing. Those photos should serve as both reminder and motivation to you as well to continue the great effort and appreciate the resources you're responsible for ! You're doing a fine job ! Thanks for sharing !

You guys have an interesting job . Keep up the good work .

Holy Mollie...Jumping Jacks Icon

You've got my cell. Text me coords and I'll guard the crappie spots till you have time to fish them.

That's awesome...

Those are really cool pictures of some nice fish. You guys do a great job and we appreciate your efforts, thanks for sharing the pics and story. Now go catch some of those big specs.

Good work guys thks for all you do!

Wow, very nice report and pictures.

Did you get a new boat Matt? I was following a camo boat with a susuki down 89 headed to train dogs and it pulled into the game and fish building. Thought it might be you.

Sounds like Matt's boat. He has an Xpress, I believe.

Thanks for the info and pics Matt. Looks like there's some good'ns out there for sure.

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Originally Posted by Minners N Jigs

Matt, I'm not sure how long you've been with the AGFC, or how much those trophy caliber fish can be directly credited back to you as a result of your doings, knowledge, or actions. I do know this, your work and effort is well documented and much appreciated by many and most. You're seeing these type fish while these lakes are on your watch. So for that fact alone, there's definitely some due credit to be taken. In one sampling you've provided photo evidence of 3 different species of fish that could easily be personal bests for many weekend and recreational anglers. That bass and obviously that trout could probably serve as some angler's "catch of their lifetime". Those photos serve as motivation, inspiration and fuel the "hope" for me that one day I'll land a trophy 3+ lb. black. All BS, brown nosing, and fairy tale talk aside: You should be proud of the results of your work and effort that you're witnessing. Those photos should serve as both reminder and motivation to you as well to continue the great effort and appreciate the resources you're responsible for ! You're doing a fine job ! Thanks for sharing !

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Thanks for the kind works all! We definitely love our jobs and sampling is the greatest aspect our what we do. I especially enjoy telling/showing anglers the results of our catch. I think yall get more and enjoy this more than a scientific report filled with statistics. I have been a fisheries biologist for 10 years. Three in the trout program out of Mt. Home and the last seven back home in Central Arkansas (Fish Heaven!). My co-worker Matt Horton has been in D-10 (District 10) for 11 years and our supervisor Tom Bly has been here for over 28 year. Matt and I only have a couple more years to soak up Tom's institutional knowledge and use the latest fisheries techniques to maximize what we already have. To be honest with yall, we are already blest with great fisheries to manage. Some are more difficult than others. Really it is our job to monitor (sample) and maintain this fisheries to the best of our ability. The take home message is that we not only manage these lakes for yall, the angler and future generations. We also manage them for ourselves, because we love to fish as well!

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Originally Posted by Rookie40

Did you get a new boat Matt? I was following a camo boat with a susuki down 89 headed to train dogs and it pulled into the game and fish building. Thought it might be you.

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Yes I finally did! This spring I got a new to me natgear camo 16' Xpress Explorer with a 50hp Suzuki. I love it! It is the perfect size boat for the fishing that me and the family will be doing. If it was last Friday, that was me stopping by the office after catching a ton of dinks.

Thanks for the pics, Matt!

Although you were concentrating on bass this trip and show some NICE crappie, did you notice anything about the overall crappie situation there? You mentioned seeing all sizes of bass, I wondered if you also saw good numbers of all sizes of crappie? I figured if you were finding some big ones, you are probably seeing little ones too. Is this an indication that the 10 inch minimum might be working? After reading the threads about little crappie at Nimrod I worry.

We saw all sizes of black and white crappie. We will be sampling the crappie on Conway the first week of November. It is too early to evaluate the effectiveness of the regulation at this time. It has only been in place for 10.5 months. We will be able to evaluate the regulation change after a few more years. I do not foresee a problem with too many little crappie on Conway. There are tons of shad in the lake and Conway has very fast growth. If we see things take a turn for the worse, we will remove the regulation

Thanks Matt,Matt and Tom for all the hard work and the great fishing.The world class trout fishing 2nd to none. Thanks again and see ya on the water.

Thanks for sharing Matt. Nice fish for sure.

Nice job Matt.

thanks for info Matt