Originally Posted by
Amartinbio
Hey guys, sorry if I’ve somehow given the impression that crappie weights weren’t down. Or that they weren’t down due to baitfish being down. They are down, and it is due to the predator prey ratio being unbalanced. Bass weights are also down. Has the competition with Asian carp affected our gizzard shad? Certainly. Are crappie weights the lowest they’ve ever been? No. This does not mean that we don’t have a problem, but it does mean that I’m not panicking. Carp are the biggest threat we have by far which is why controlling their population is a huge priority.
I am always interested in the opinions and concerns of anglers regardless of whether I want to hear it or not.
This topic will be a major component of the meeting on Thursday evening.
As for egg condition, there is some precedent for reduced egg production when fish are starving or stressed. It’s one of the theories for “density dependent population control”. It’s never really been proven in crappie, (they tend to overpopulate if given the chance so they at least aren’t very good at controlling their own population numbers). The average ky lake crappie female has about 120,000 eggs. (Less than the average Asian carp which usually has about 200,000 in other populations. not really sure where the 1 million number came from...). It doesn’t take many crappie eggs, but it does take the right conditions.
As for carp spawning and crappie eating them, we still haven’t observed any individuals in the lake from a 2016 or 2017 year class of carp, although we know from carp egg weights that they at least attempted to spawn. The 2015 year class is still extremely abundant unfortunately. They need high flows to spawn and unfortunately this year looks like a high flow year. We absolutely do not need another successful carp spawn in the rivers or the lake so I’m really hoping this rain calms down before water temps rise. If anyone observes small carp in stomachs or cast nets please take a photo. This information is crucial.
Hopefully those that are interested will be able to make it out to the meeting to discuss carp efforts and other issues. If not, send me an email or give me a call anytime to discuss the issues. Apologies to those who felt they weren’t being heard.
-Adam