Yeah, that's Paul Rister ...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Greenwing
Rister was the guy's name, he was saying 74 out of 100 legal size crappie would be caught. I dont know if this is true or not just repeating what I read.
he's the KDFWR head Biologist. Again, though ... I think the droughts of years back, and the Zebra Mussel invasion, all helping to produce clearer waters in KY Lake ... have given rise to the dominance of the Black Crappie, and the decline of numbers for the White Crappie. I would think this has had a greater impact, than any "overharvesting". And, with the clearer water, the White Crappie will spawn deeper than normal. Obviously, with the small fish showing up, they have been spawning. Black Crappie will spawn 2-3weeks earlier than White Crappie, around the time when water temps are stable at 55-58deg. And they don't utilize the same spawning habitat.
KDFWR was so concerned about the flip flop of specie domination, that they did the tagging study. They posted the results and weekly progress of their movements. From reading the study, I gathered that the KDFWR guys were about as clueless as the resident anglers, as far as how much different the fish can be. Their habits, habitat choices, water temp choices, water clarity choices, depth range, movement timing, and how soon they come shallow & how long they stay shallow ... are significantly different.
Here's the Paducah Sun article : http://www.redorbit.com/news/science...urce=r_science
I think Paul is being cautiously pessimistic, about the upcoming years. There's been lean years, before ... and the lakes are still top producers, in quantity & quality. We just had to wait thru a couple of lean seasons, until the population could re-adjust. We may have to do the same, in the next few years. And, all anglers (local and non-res) will have to make some adjustments in their timing and methods ... to take advantage of the dominance takeover, by the Black Crappie. If nothing else, that should help take the pressure off the declining population of White Crappie.
Nonetheless ... creel/size limit changes are the easiest and quickest methods of "fixing" things, and they're the cheapest (to KDFWR) to implement. And, if that's what is necessary to help keep those lakes at prime production levels ... I don't think most sportsmen/women should have a problem with it.
........ cp :cool: