Crappie Tournament Limits Editorial

An interesting Editorial by a noted Mississippi outdoor writer in the April Issue of CrappieNOW suggesting that the creel limit in crappie fishing tournaments should be lowered from the traditional seven-fish limit, down to a five-fish limit. The suggestion is that advanced electronics give crappie anglers TOO MUCH of an advantage. There is also a survey included where you can tell us what you think about the idea. See what Bernard Williams thinks about it here: EDITORIAL: Lower the Tournament Limit, by Bernard Williams - Crappie Now

See what I think about it here: Opening Cast – April 2021 - Crappie Now

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Just looking at this boat; "IS THIS REALLY FISHING?" HECK NO in my humble opinion.
A 85 yr old fisHERMAN 1 POLE , 1 HOOK!!!!!

The guy makes some good points, but I'm not sure if the changes will have that much effect.

Most people don't fish tournaments. I don't know if dropping the limit from 7 to 5 will help much if the non-tourney guys are bringing in limits of 30-50.

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Originally Posted by rsimms

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First mate: "Captain, we spotted the Russian sub!"


Captain: "Launch depth charges!"

Why not just eliminate the bass and crappie tournaments? That would solve the problem. http://crappieforum.com/smf/Smileys/default/bolt.gifhttp://crappieforum.com/smf/Smileys/...t/peepwall.gif:Rofl

Wow, a long way from the old days! That stuff looks EXPENSIVE as well as somewhat complex. Does this look like fun? I don’t know.:dono But to each their own.
Bob
PS Glad to just be a wade fisherman way up the creek and away from folks.
B

usually it's a one day event. Not that great of an impact on a body of water

It's frustrating, to say the least. The sponsors want to sell their latest wares (sonar), yet without those items, a regular angler doesn't stand a chance (being able to thump the largest crappie on the nose). Most tournaments are catch and release with a penalty for dead fish. Therefore, other than the high priced barrier to entry, I don't see that the tournaments are the issue here.

The impact on fisheries will be the recreational anglers. With lakes like Sardis, Enid, Arkabutla, and Grenada, which have 12" minimum limits anyway, I fear that these devices are opposed to the basics of conservation (leave the big fish to breed). I'm not talking about whether you catch your limit in 2 hours instead of 8, but literally being able to single out the largest fish and take them home. I feel like the only response is a slot limit so that only fish (as an example) 12"-14" can be taken. However, that really doesn't resolve the issue as the 12-14" population is what can someday become 15"+ fish.

Until crappie become "the holy grail" and "OMG, you can't eat them" like bass have become, we are in for some damage to the public resources.

The catfish community has come together and decided to eat those under 10 pounds and take photos of the big ones. Crappie are so small that I don't see that being a viable solution.

Technology isn't always our friend. :(

one problem with crappie is that they taste so darn good

Well, I won't post the numbers I catch but I will say I throw a ridiculous amount back. When what mattered was my Ego I violated the crappie but now when you open my deep freeze all you see are fish heads (till the next trip). I don't even freeze fillets anymore. Mister Twister stock went down when I quit fishing crappie like I was mad at them. Anyway, the marsh bass here get eaten right along with the marsh crappie but I only keep what we can eat. I agree with the posters above that the recreational anglers who are fishing like they are mad at the crappie and their Ego drives them to keep everything to reach a limit are a bigger threat to the fishery. I'm not judging anybody, he who cast the first stone and all, I am guilty of the very same behavior in the past.

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Originally Posted by Foxy Jig

usually it's a one day event. Not that great of an impact on a body of water

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Yeah but you’re forgetting the weeks worth of prefishing. That’s where the tournament guys mop up with keepers. They will throw the big fish back and keep the smalls.


Sent from my iPhone using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app

Don't forget what the guides take out of the lakes. It's a lot. You would not believe - The take.

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Originally Posted by Foxy Jig

usually it's a one day event. Not that great of an impact on a body of water

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I suggest you look at some of the tournaments in places like MS. IE the Crappie Masters last month at Grenada . Over 1000 2+ pounders weighed in and then "released" by being slid down 30' of PVC pipe . I wouldn't count on a huge survival rate .

That photo at the beginning of this post is the front end of the legendary crappie team of Ronnie Capps (R) and Steve Coleman's (L) boat. The main screen in the center probably is there by choice as much as it's there because it's needed to compete in todays tournaments. Garmin LiveScope. That can of worms has been open and kicked around enough.

A benefit of the tournaments that isn't often discussed is the large amount of information the can be learned in a short amount of time if you will only look and listen. You don't have to pay the entry fee or the thousands needed for travel expenses. Thanks to the internet, I can be here in Pa. and "watch" tournaments around the country. Sometimes I even will be able to "get in the boat with them during the completion". New lures, techniques, and locations that you weren't aware of could be exposed. They don't hold back when it's go time.

Although there might be 100 teams entered, normally about only ten or fifteen teams have a strong chance of winning. At the Mr. Crappie event in Branson, I saw that several teams never caught a fish.

Mike

Aren't the tournament released? The every day fisherman need to think about releasing the big fish to spawn as well. I don't keep females before or during the spawn. I released 25 fish the other day over 14". I will keep some to eat after the spawn. If everyone would do that, the fishery would be in better shape.