A type of minnows? Which type?
If its shad, which type, or types do the crappie have to primarily target?
Do different seasons change their primary food source?
Thanks guys.
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A type of minnows? Which type?
If its shad, which type, or types do the crappie have to primarily target?
Do different seasons change their primary food source?
Thanks guys.
I don't know if they are threadfin or gizzard or both. I do know there are a ton of them and they eat them 24-7 365! There is an unbelievable amount of forage in this lake. If they would lower the limit and personally I would like the length limit to be 12 inches, then you would have a tremendous fishery. We have too many out of state fisherman taking too many fish home. A friend of mine and a CDC member ran into some Ky. guys the other day who told him they had to get enough fish to feed 500 people at there church fish fry. He wanted to know why they didn't catch them in Kentucky. I wondered the same thing.
I would personally tell them they are only allowed to keep one days possesion limit for transporting across state line, when our group comes to fish Weiss we play by the rules because that’s the law!Quote:
Originally Posted by footballcoach
Weiss is pimped out...
I think you get a conflict between your local and State Tourism Deparments advertising “come to Lake Weiss” and spend your vacation dollars and your State DNR is caught in the middle sometimes. If DNR changes the fishing regs then the State Tourism crys your going to hurt tourism, and it definitely needs to be a balancing act. Lake Weiss has always been a very strong presence in a ton of Boat and Sports Shows advertising their fishing and lake activities all over even here in Indiana and that is not a bad thing for the tourism economy, but it definitely has an effect on your fishing.
I wish the state would crack down on the guys who are raping our waters. I never keep short fish and I wouldn’t keep more than a limit if I knew with 100% certainty that I wouldn’t get checked. These lakes are a natural resource, not a factory. I have a reputation for being an *** and people will find that to be true if I run into them with more than a limit of fish. They’ll get to sit there til the game warden arrives if I catch them. I have all the local GW’s cell numbers and have a good rapport with all of them.
But to answer the original question, the most common thing that crappie on Weiss and Guntersville feed on are 2” curly tails. They don’t get an opportunity to eat anything else.
Don’t just blame the out of state guys. I’ve watched people with Alabama numbers loading their boats up just as much as anyone. I watched a couple Alabama guys putting fish in the livewell that they weren’t even measuring and the fish didn’t look long enough from where we were. I wouldn’t mind seeing a 12 inch limit also!
I'm not just blaming the out of state guys. I blame all poachers, regardless of where they live. Poaching is done for one of two reasons. Greed or so they can brag about numbers. I don't have patience for either one.
Its not state tourism but local chambers of commerce, business owners and a few guides that worry about loss of revenue. The believe less people will come with lower limits and tighter restrictions. People who are truly crappie fisherman would rather come to a lake and catch big crappie rather than a bunch of small ones. I would say tourism and dollars around the Big 4 in Mississippi is doing well and its my understanding their regulations are strictly enforced. I want our local businesses to succeed. We are a rural county and the Lake provides much revenue to the county. However people will surely not come to a lake that is being over fished and declining each yr. Be proactive and solve the problem and don't worry about the greedy. I could care less if they stayed home and wished they would!
Thanks for answering my questions guys, and adding your additional thoughts and information. I appreciate it.
I agree with everything you've said. I believe in supporting the local small business whenever I can. And I always abide by length and numbers limits, they exist for a reason. I'm learning to crappie fish for the enjoyment of it, the same reason as I fish for any other kind of fish. Time on the water with a friend is a gift, and if I catch a few they are a bonus.
Its a simple matter of honesty and personal integrity. Noone is entitled to break the law, and deserves to be caught.
I can't understand the thinking that its OK to provide enough fish to support a church fish fry with 500 members! That is just w-r-o-n-g!
Sure I'm from a northern state that doesn't have your climate or eco-system to support a crappie fishery like you have, but that doesn't give me or anyone a right to rape a God-given resource.
What we abuse, we lose.
We do have Lake Erie, the Smallmouth bass and Walleye Capital of the World. A fantastic fishery for experiencing those types of fishing.
If you get a chance to try some fishing in this different way, come on up.
Mayfly hatchQuote:
Originally Posted by Centerliner
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I've been going to Lake weiss from the time I came into this world and have seen more crappie took out of that lake by the locals then the out of state folks. I was down there two weeks ago and seen some guys with a 50 quart cooler filled 3/4 the way up with fish of all sizes. When ask where they were from the answer I got is we just live right up the road maybe 2 minutes that's why we ride our golf cart to the bridge.
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Shad , shad, and more shad! It’s very well a problem on most all the lakes in every state with locals and non locals ! It’s a sad day when most places want enforce the law or look for a way to get out of enforcing the law! All we can do is our best and do right and report the ones that we know that are not doing right and hope something is going to be done about it ! At least you know you done the right thing !
Slabprowler, am I hearing you right that there is intentional choosing not to enforce the laws as would apply to fishing by most places?
How much of this happens to non-locals?
Would this possibly explain the scowls one man gave us as he slowly trolled past us last year?
Last year was the first time I've traveled with a friend to your beautiful state. It was to visit his daughter and family, so we also fished some at Lake Weiss.
It was the week after the storms and tornado went through. Never saw a crappie longer than 9 in. So it surprises me hearing talk of a 12" limit. I've never caught a crappie bigger than 11 in., and don't keep any shorter than 10 inches.
IMHO with a crappie less than 10 inches, its a waste of a living resource with the total length lost from the head to gill plates and a couple inches for the tail, the filets aren't big enough for me to warrant my killing the fish. I release them to get bigger.
Would making a 12 inch limit create a situation where most people would not be able to put together a legal limit for a full day of fishing?
The biologist sets the rules and regulations and I will leave it up to them if they think it needs changed on a particular lake then they can change it ! All lakes have their up and down years! Theses lakes have been fished for years and years and most fisherman can go to any given lake at the right time and do well unless it’s a down year on that particular lake! I have nothing against out of state persons coming to fish my local waters or any in my state and I will help them in any way I can as long as they follow the rules! I travel to 3-4 states each year fishing/hunting and I obey all the laws because they are set for a reason! We prolly have more locals breaking laws than out of town ers ! We have ask for help but The resources are said to not be their in most cases to help keep things in control! I fish for pleasure and I do keep some to eat but none is wasted ! When it gets to where I can’t go fishing and enjoy my day then I will find me another fishing hole!
Next time your down her let me know and I'll try to make sure you catch one longer than 12 inches!Quote:
Originally Posted by Centerliner
I have set here reading comments from different people, some I know and some I don’t know. I am 64 years old and have fished this lake from the first day you could fish to present. I know how many fish used to be caught here and how many are caught now, so you can’t blow smoke up my rear end and feed me a bunch of s***. Things have changed her for many reasons 1 the structure had disappeared use to you could wade fish and you had to carry a stick with you to keep from tripping over stumps, you don’t have that anymore. 2 you have guides and different people taking fish in large numbers and short fish, this is not to say all guides do this or all people do this it seemed that most just don’t care. 3 you don’t have the enforcement of the laws the game wardens are more worried about catching someone shooting turkeys over corn than working the lake,why because crappie and turkey season starts about the same time. They could set at the ramps and probably write more tickets in a day then catching one or two turkey hunters all year. It is just not High on there list of things to do. 4 you have runoff from all of the farms that have been bad for the fishing. Several years ago big Spring creek had a fish Kill that killed every thing there, it took several years to come back and now we are seeing it in other areas too. In the past they have had to stock crappie to get the seeds back in the lake. And what with black crappie. White crappie has always been the bread and butter of this fishery. Some people say there are plenty of fish here but that is not true. You can’t catch fish in the places you use to, some people say you have to change the way you fish for them, we have. So what is the excuse now. You are not a very good crappie fisherman. Well that is not true either. So what is the best step to take. Change the size limits and the creel limits and enforce enforce and enforce.
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Sorry for the complaining. To answer your question it is gizzard shad.
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CrappieFlopper, you need make no apology. I appreciate you sharing your wisdom and life experience with me/us.
I'm a young 63 years old myself.
I started this thread to learn about how to better match the crappie's main food source.
All of you who have posted in this thread have given a much greater gift of knowledge to me.
I appreciate very much learning about the truth of the situation with Weiss lake and the regional struggles you guys have to deal with. I imagine it must be true for a number of other reservoirs across the South, just as it is in the North. [the loss of original structure]
Our structure must be replaced because there is precious little left of the original from the time of the reservoir's creation. In Ohio, the ODNR won't allow us to add any. Only they can, and its not nearly enough.
We also have a growing problem of invasive species, the Zebra mussels and Gobies introduced into the Great Lakes by international ships have made their way into our rivers and lakes.
To me it doesn't matter where a man lives, if he's a responsible sportsman I'm happy to count him as a friend.
footballcoach - thank-you for your kind and generous offer. I appreciate it.
Lakes go up and down for many reasons. People taking to many fish is not the problem most of the time . It's weather is the main reason. I can promise you if the out of state people quit coming the Weiss the local economy will suffer greatly. But to the question asked, I think thredfin are there favorite but when on the banks blue hill fry are a big part of there diet.
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What is blue hill fry? Never heard of it.Quote:
Originally Posted by lowe175
I’m sure he ment Blue gill !
What would do the most damage to the crappie population of any lake, out of state folks coming and fishing a couple times a year, catching and cleaning 15 fish a day for 5 days, total 75 fish and twice a year would be 150 fish. Or the local guys that fish the lake two or more times a week and keep 15 fish each trip, two trips a week would be 30 fish a week and many fish it year round, that would be about 1500 fish a year. Neither the locals or the out of state guys catch a limit ever time they go fishing, but over the year a guy fishing a given lake regular will keep 10 times or more fish that a twice a year visitor will. And they will enjoy the nice lunching ramps with floating docks, that were built by tax dollars, collected by folks from every state, and they stop and buy bait at the local bait stores, that the tourist dollars spent help keep open. Because a lake in located in a state we live in doesn’t make it ours, or give us more rights than any visitor, we are all American tax payers and share all lakes. Like it or not, just fish and enjoy what we are blessed with, each state has folks that are payed to worry about and take care of our lakes, life is to short for me to worry about controlling a lake and who is fishing it,
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Right now in the flooded delta it’s crawfish
Yep blue gill fry, dang auto correct!
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what I’ve caught in a shad net, have been mostly thread fin. There are incredible amounts of shad at Weiss. As for forage, I’ve done a little reading, white crappie are bait fish eaters where the black crappie eat aquatic Insects ,larva and bait fish. One thing in my short experience at Weiss seems that size of your bait does play a factor. I prefer a larger bait when, fishing, at Weiss the smaller profile baits do very well. Just my .02Quote:
Originally Posted by Centerliner
You have missed my point, I am not complaining about some out of state folks I agree once or twice a year, is completely understandable. But you have no ideal what I am talking about. I am not going to get into names or places here. This is the last I will post about this period.Quote:
Originally Posted by Child of God
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