My tourney/guide buddy

Checked in with me on his way back from a Florida tourney yesterday .
Said he never seen so many minnow dunkin folks in the pads and cattails after crappie in his entire life !
told me the lake was covered up in shiner dunkin crappie ketchn folks .
also mentioned it was cold as heck ,just saying .....
said it was mighty tough to compete with the locals, lots of live baits were in the water .
that also explains the recent crappie masters results , just saying
mind you this , he was not chasing crappie , he was in a bass tourney .......:highfive

The sport is really or has really taken off.

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Originally Posted by BuckeyeCrappie

The sport is really or has really taken off.

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Plus Florida's over population issue but yes in the Spring ramps become crowed here also. Don't last long.

Fortunately, here in Florida, we are blessed with many, many lakes and miles of shoreline. Our fish populations still hold strong. But many crappie anglers this time of year are not only locals, but snowbirds or out-of-staters escaping the inclement weather in their home states. Our superb state parks offer anglers many opportunities to fish. I meet anglers from all over while visiting or fishing waters close to them. The one unique difference here is how much passing weather fronts affect the bite, especially on crappie and green fish.

I wonder about the crappie spawn in the TVA lake here with the flooding and drawing down to winter pool that happens in the spring time the lake can fluctuate 6 or 7 feet in the matter of a few days.

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Originally Posted by SpeckledSlab

Fortunately, here in Florida, we are blessed with many, many lakes and miles of shoreline. Our fish populations still hold strong. But many crappie anglers this time of year are not only locals, but snowbirds or out-of-staters escaping the inclement weather in their home states. Our superb state parks offer anglers many opportunities to fish. I meet anglers from all over while visiting or fishing waters close to them. The one unique difference here is how much passing weather fronts affect the bite, especially on crappie and green fish.

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shallow water fish get more sketchy and harder to ketchy in frontal situations here 2

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Originally Posted by DockShootinJack

I wonder about the crappie spawn in the TVA lake here with the flooding and drawing down to winter pool that happens in the spring time the lake can fluctuate 6 or 7 feet in the matter of a few days.

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not good during the spawn , better if the water goes up fast than down for the fish
fast falling water can be a death trap to eggs and fry

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Originally Posted by Ketchn

not good during the spawn , better if the water goes up fast than down for the fish
fast falling water can be a death trap to eggs and fry

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My thoughts as well. With the number of just under 10" fish last year there should be good numbers of legal fish this year. Hoping for better conditions this year during spawn

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Originally Posted by DockShootinJack

My thoughts as well. With the number of just under 10" fish last year there should be good numbers of legal fish this year. Hoping for better conditions this year during spawn

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love to see herds of slightly under fish here , because in less than 6 months it will be herds of keepers

That is the only thing that made me smile last summer. I sorted through a lot of just shorts to get a few keepers for the table. This year should be much better

Same situation here to DSJ.
Problem here is the few places that hold crappie are pressured so much and we don’t have a very long growing season.
Make a difference with you just being 4 hours south of me.



Sent from my iPhone using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app

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Originally Posted by Chuck Adams

Same situation here to DSJ.
Problem here is the few places that hold crappie are pressured so much and we don’t have a very long growing season.
Make a difference with you just being 4 hours south of me.



Sent from my iPhone using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app

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our white crappie can grow to 10 inches from a fry in just about a year in lots of spots in Texas from what the state says ...:dono

I believe I have read between 8 and 9 inches here in the first year is possible

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Originally Posted by DockShootinJack

I believe I have read between 8 and 9 inches here in the first year is possible

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if you look thru the Texas parks and wildlife site and get info from the individual lake reports , i think that part is in the latest survey area.
one "guru" in these parts once told me 2 lb fish were only 2.5 years old .:dono

I am sure that is with abundant food sources and optimum conditions

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Originally Posted by DockShootinJack

I am sure that is with abundant food sources and optimum conditions

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for sure , bet money the clear water lakes don't have growth rates near that area .
it is likely them mudhole looking lakes that have constant turbid water that looks like it just rained year round :Rofl

That woukd likely increase survival rates of the small fish being it would be easier to stay out of sight of whatever was trying to make you it's next meal

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Originally Posted by DockShootinJack

That woukd likely increase survival rates of the small fish being it would be easier to stay out of sight of whatever was trying to make you it's next meal

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really soup like water is the food buffet all day long , best spots have abundant algae and micro things in it ,making it look like pea soup .
the circle of life starts right there :highfive

So a 12ft deep pond, 1 acre will support the harvest off 100#'s of fish/year. Rule of thumb if designing small impoundment ponds (5 acres or less). I know one of the partners who wrote the latest college text book on the subject. Now that being qualified he also instructed me if you fertilize same said pond it will support the growth and harvest of 400#'s per year. To Ketchn's point where runoff fertilizes the waterways, especially lakes, the plankton type blooms really add fuel to the food chain, and reduces clarity. The big three are flood control lakes, why they grow such large fish across the board. The author is from MS State in Starkville, Ms. Aerate the ponds so no thermocline develops and the entire water column is productive. Even moving water uses the entire depth of the water column to raise fish in.