Self Imposed 10" Size Limit

I'm a Tville regular and I've noticed a big difference in the size of fillet between a 9" fish and a 10" fish. I can't justify killing a 9" fish any more. There just isn't enough meat to bother with cleaning it. I thought this pic on my phone illustrates it pretty good.

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That's a 12",11",10", and 9" crappie. My intentions this year are to not keep crappie under 10". The fish and wildlife won't raise the limit to 10" because of the number of fish that are produced by the lake. They need more fish taken out so others have more room to grow. I guess that makes sense for the average Joe, but I want to see more fish grow to the 10" limit before I take them. It makes for better fillets and the lake has plenty of fertility and forage to support the extra demands of the larger fish. Tell me what y'all think.

Each to his own.

What you are saying may be honorable but in the long run will have almost zero affect on populations. Biologists base the creel and size limits by what they feel a particular body of water's fish population can support. The guy who only fishes a few times a year but keeps everything he catches will have a much more adverse affect than you setting a self-imposed size limit will help. Don't think those folks are out there? Go to the cleaning stations at the motels and resorts around KY and Barkley Lakes. I'll bet good money every garbage can at those will contain short crappie. Many who come here to fish have the attitude"I'm spending my hard-earned $$ and there is an almost ZERO CHANCE I will be caught. I'll keep what I want to".

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Originally Posted by mrdux

Each to his own.

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Yup. That's what I believe

I like to catch a big fish, but on a smaller lake, someone has to take out the smaller fish to prevent over population. An example of extreme of this is Lake Charles, Arkansas. The AGFC put a length limit of 9 or 10 inches on this lake of around 600 acres. Now, it is tough to catch a crappie over 7 inches. There is a very delicate balance that needs to be maintained between quantity and quality. Even the trained biologists miss this from time to time, the example being Lake Charles.

If a lake can support a minimum 10 inch length limit, I'm all for it. Some can, and some can't.

Not knocking.We had one of the best crappie lakes near our home in the country.The lake RCC is talking about.unreal the size crappie and bream you could catch.Could catch limit of 10-12 in crappie any time of the year and some close to 2-3 lb's crappie.The Game and fish added a 10 in min to help grow bigger crappie. Was a huge mistake that will never recover. Can catch 50-100 crappie all 8-9 in and thin.If you hook a small less than 10 in crappie what do you do with the dead crappie? If you keep it its against the law.! if you throw it back your breaking the law! Keep what you can eat use throw the rest back(My Two cents)Couple years ago they added Florida Strain bass and Flathead catfish and took the 10 in limit off. Just in the last couple years and with this years flood should help.Love crappie fish'n.enjoy catching and seeing other's catching especially kid's.I am for protecting the environment but not crippling it.Attachment 226926Attachment 226927Attachment 226928Attachment 226930Attachment 226931Attachment 226932Attachment 226933Attachment 226934Attachment 226935Attachment 226936Attachment 226938Attachment 226939These crappie are a sample from Lake Charles not big.We have caught 100's of crappie keep some to eat.Release the rest nice clean parks and nice boat ramps.

We all fish for different reasons and those reasons may change as we get older. Like Bubba, I choose not to keep fish less than ten inches and seldom keep more than ten not so much for the ecology of the lake or fish but more for that guy who only gets out a few times a year. I hold no grudge to that guy to keep nine inch fish and hope he gets a limit. For the vast majority reading this, we give our day's catch to those we take out and enjoy the smile we've help given at the end of the day. In my prime I'd keep a limit when blessed with those days that gave them up. Back then I worked at Lowes and would have fish fries for the employees and some of the regular customers. I fried up a many as five hundred crappie fillets and made a lot people smile. Now, I guess I'd like to see the newbees come and enjoy what I've been blessed to experience in my hay day. Maybe be a small part of helping the ones that aren't sure just where to start. Not ready to give up waypoints, just points.

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Originally Posted by slabseeker1

We all fish for different reasons and those reasons may change as we get older. Like Bubba, I choose not to keep fish less than ten inches and seldom keep more than ten not so much for the ecology of the lake or fish but more for that guy who only gets out a few times a year. I hold no grudge to that guy to keep nine inch fish and hope he gets a limit. For the vast majority reading this, we give our day's catch to those we take out and enjoy the smile we've help given at the end of the day. In my prime I'd keep a limit when blessed with those days that gave them up. Back then I worked at Lowes and would have fish fries for the employees and some of the regular customers. I fried up a many as five hundred crappie fillets and made a lot people smile. Now, I guess I'd like to see the newbees come and enjoy what I've been blessed to experience in my hay day. Maybe be a small part of helping the ones that aren't sure just where to start. Not ready to give up waypoints, just points.

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This is dead on . XX2

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Originally Posted by mrdux

Each to his own.

What you are saying may be honorable but in the long run will have almost zero affect on populations. Biologists base the creel and size limits by what they feel a particular body of water's fish population can support. The guy who only fishes a few times a year but keeps everything he catches will have a much more adverse affect than you setting a self-imposed size limit will help. Don't think those folks are out there? Go to the cleaning stations at the motels and resorts around KY and Barkley Lakes. I'll bet good money every garbage can at those will contain short crappie. Many who come here to fish have the attitude"I'm spending my hard-earned $$ and there is an almost ZERO CHANCE I will be caught. I'll keep what I want to".

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Right on, I've seen guys catch a limit in the morn, back in the afternoon, keeping 7" fish....

I'm with ya all the way Bubba. I guess when I was a kid I kept smaller fish but I personally just can't see the point in cleaning 9" fish. If someone else wants to clean them that's up to them.
I've been more selective for probably the last 10 years. I also am conservative about the number of fish I keep. We have a 30 fish limit up here and I rarely keep more than 15 fish or so between 2 guys fishing. There's a few guys up here who keep everything over 9" they catch and will keep 3 or 4 limits per week, I know I don't get it.
As far as Ky Lake I will say it's a rare time I see anyone with short fish.

KY and Barkley Lakes have a 10" minimum so I don't keep anything smaller. Personally I don't keep anything over 1 1/2 pound. It may not make any difference but I haven't missed any crappie suppers because of it.

Depends on what lake I'm fishing. The lakes here in NW Pa don't have a size limit but you can keep fifty per day. They imposed this high limit for a reason. The crappies don't grow fast up here and almost every spawn is pretty much successful year after year. That makes for a tremendous amount of crappies in these lakes. If a ten inch size limit was imposed these waters would be over run with stunted crappies very quickly. We have some nice fish because our people don't mind eating nine inch fish. The meat is a lot fresher than an eight year old crappie that's twelve or thirteen Inches. Yeah it takes a little more time to clean them, as we keep more than most states, but they are worth it. They taste great.
When I fish lakes with size limits, like Ky Lake, I abide by the lake rules, always. Have to admit that I have seen some short fish almost every time I stop at the cleaning station, as MR DUX said. Not wishing any bad luck on those guys but I won't feel sorry for them if / when they get caught. And double dippers should be taken out to the woodshed.

I'm relatively newer to crappie fishing and the balance of the ecosystem they live in. I understand what y'all are saying about overpopulation problems if the shorter fish aren't being taken out. I guess I just thought that if all the fish were allowed to grow to 10" before they were kept it wld make a better fishery. But places like Tville produce so many crappie that it wld be overcome with short fish in a couple years if nobody kept any of the 9" fish.

I have heard of a couple guys catching limits in the morning and goin back out in the afternoon and catching another limit or two, and not being afraid of getting caught doin it. Chaunc nailed it when he said they should be taken to the wood shed. The few guys who disrespect the law make all of us look bad when there is a garbage can full of short fish. I've seen it at the cleaning station at Kenlake at Ky Lake.

Like Mr. Dux said, to each his own, and I just meant that as my personal goal this year, I was not going to keep craaps under 10". Slabseeker nailed it when he said it was good to leave some smaller fish for the newcomers. Thanks for feedback guys. Y'all are a wealth of information.

Chaunc I can appreciate your northern crappie. Years back I fished Dale Walburn, Berlin Reservoir, Pymatuning and they gave up some fair numbers but, for the most part pretty small. When I started fishing Lake Erie, my boat was always the first in the water, come spring, and I'd fish the docks and pilings around the marina at East Harbor where we kept it moored. When we moved south and I started fishing down here, these crappie almost looked deformed, what with their size. To be honest, the first time I saw someone talk of a "gasper goo" I thought they were just referring to a big ole slab :) It took awhile, but I caught on. After fishing a few lakes down here and the ones up north, does the amount of forage, size and depth of a lake have any affect on the crappie these lakes produce? Lake Erie would produce big crappie but not in numbers like the lakes down here and that may be due to the growing season. I know I've been out on Barren and hear water splashing, turn and see an acre of shad schools boiling the water. More than once I've heard guys say that every full moon there's another shad hatch on Barren. Not sure if that's true but our fish aren't as big as the Ky Lake crappie. Now is that because of the expanse of Ky Lake. Who know's? Just things to ponder while I'm trapped in the house with this cursed cabin fever. Does anyone remember what that thump feels like? :fish

Really enjoyed the post great topic. Love fishing Kentucky lake some of the best if not the best fishing anywhere.With a 10 in length limit."we have a small lake we fish that has this limit"What do you do with a 9 in fish hooked deep and dies before you put it back in the water?We all have done it and if not it will happen.Not trying to hyjack thread fish a lake with the 10 in limit.What do you suggest we do with the fish? If you throw it back you are breaking the law if you keep it you are breaking the law.

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Originally Posted by jackie53

Really enjoyed the post great topic. Love fishing Kentucky lake some of the best if not the best fishing anywhere.With a 10 in length limit."we have a small lake we fish that has this limit"What do you do with a 9 in fish hooked deep and dies before you put it back in the water?We all have done it and if not it will happen.Not trying to hyjack thread fish a lake with the 10 in limit.What do you suggest we do with the fish? If you throw it back you are breaking the law if you keep it you are breaking the law.

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I throw them back, a ticket is not worth it to me. Usually on Barkley there is an Eagle or Osprey to take care of the wounded fish, in my mind I'm giving back to nature.

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Originally Posted by Greenwing

I throw them back, a ticket is not worth it to me. Usually on Barkley there is an Eagle or Osprey to take care of the wounded fish, in my mind I'm giving back to nature.

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...or a Blue Heron. I absolutely hate to throw a bleeding short fish back but will every time. Last thing I need is my name in the paper as a game law violator.

I also will not keep a female redear unless it is for mounting or is bleeding from a gill or serious throat wound and will die anyway.

Hang on there just a minute, fellers ... where in the KDFWR regulations does it say it's illegal to release a short fish if it's injured/bleeding ??? Or am I misunderstanding ya'll :dono

It does say that undersized fish should be released immediately & in the "best condition possible" ... but, I can't find anything that says it's illegal to release one that's NOT !!

Now, I do see members from other states chiming in, and it may be illegal in their state (though the law doesn't really make any sense to me, if it does say that) ... but, I don't find it in any of OUR state regulations.

And just to keep to the subject ... I "self impose" a size limit of 1/2 inch over whatever the size limit of that particular lake happens to be ... just as a precaution to avoid "livewell shrinkage" and a potential ticket. I've even marked my "Golden Rule" measuring device so that it measures "long" ... and I make sure any fish measured on it is "obviously" well past that mark. I figure by doing it that way, I'm not only protecting myself, but the resource as well.

... cp :kewl

I'm with you 100%. 9 in fish aren't worth keeping unless you scale them as opposed to filleting g them.
Hand in hand with that I NEVER keep female fish during spawn season. It agrivates the thunder out of me to see of all people Wally Marshall putting chubby females in the livewell. I'm not picking on Wally but expect better things from a spokesperson of the crappie community. TAKE A PIC OF THE BIG FEMALES AND THROW EM BACK PLEASE.

I don't have any problem with someone keeping a legal fish. My limits at Tville invariably contain a couple of 9 inchers. I also have thrown several 9 inchers back if I'm in to some better fish. I've also thrown back all legal fish and kept none. I think a 9 is plenty big enough to clean,heck a 9 in bluegill is a nice fish. People would be thrilled to have a mess of those.
I just think people should follow the rules then make themselves happy. I'm fine with whatever.
Not to change the subject but I never get checked on the water. Maybe twice on Tville for what they called creel surveys. They were biologists not looking for violations. Couple of times at Barren for safety checks. Once at rough at the ramp safety check. That's all I can remember,in 30 years of fishing from a boat in Kentucky. Hundreds of trips I guess. Or over a hundred trips anyway.
I've never been stopped by a game warden and asked to show my fish. Is this y'alls experience?

I've been checked one time in 5 years of fishing at Tville. He did a thorough check of my boat safety equipment but never checked my fish. I've never been stopped at any other lake in Ky.

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Originally Posted by samjoe

I've never been stopped by a game warden and asked to show my fish. Is this y'alls experience?

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We got checked 3 days in a row by the same 2 COs on Barkley. I've been checked several times on KY Lake. I guess I just look suspicious to them?

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Originally Posted by mrdux

We got checked 3 days in a row by the same 2 COs on Barkley. I've been checked several times on KY Lake. I guess I just look suspicious to them?

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I saw them under the bridge there by sportsmans on jonathon creek a few years ago.It looked like a sobriety check point to me .They just waved me through.Just to be clear,i dont mind being checked,it just hasnt happened to me much. Three days in a row seems like a lot.Im probably not on the water near as much as you Mr Dux.I see a lot of LE on Barren,they seem like they are more concerned about drunks on the water.Rightfully so.They generally leave me alone.

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Originally Posted by mrdux

We got checked 3 days in a row by the same 2 COs on Barkley. I've been checked several times on KY Lake. I guess I just look suspicious to them?

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maybe they think you're dragging drugs on those long lines behind your boat.

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Originally Posted by wannabe fisherman

maybe they think you're dragging drugs on those long lines behind your boat.

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I actually was catfishing with my Dad in the area of Barkley where he grew up. They checked everything the 1st 2 days then realized who we were the 3rd day and just asked us to hold up our fishing license so they could see the large number on it. Didn't matter they had seen them both days previous. We thought it was funny but they were very respectful and courteous. I was glad to see them out there. Most days there are not enough to go around to check anybody.

I must be doing it wrong. I get checked at least once a year for at least a safety check and usually registration papers and such too. Over the last 3-4 years I can think of at least 3 times (tough one of those was in Tennessee) that the officer has done a casual look in the live well. Not sure if they would have noticed a short that was just under but if there had been a way short and especially a way over the limit I suspect it would have been noticed. Just not worth the risk in my mind and I feel like there are plenty of days for me to get a legal limit anyway...

And I have had the same thing as Mr. Dux - same guy or team check me back to back to days. They were quick the second time, but a check all the same. And mind you, I also don't mind the check - glad to see it happening actually.