Want your opinions if I may.

To begin with I am no biologist but did minor in it in college. For the last several years I have noticed a decline in the number of crappie caught by my self and talking to other anglers. Bare in mind I am referring to The Chick and The Hiwassee wing. Prior to that about 2015 I noticed in the late fall a group of about 50 American White Pelican show up on the Hiwassee Arm and just last week I saw a Group on the Candi's creek bay area numbering more than 500 strong. Further checking shows that a Pelican will consume 4lbs of fish a day (6 crappie or other fish) so do the math 6X 500 = 3000 crappie a day. To me that's alarming. Once again I'm no biologist but in doing further checking the state of Idaho has been doing a study since 2016 on the Pelicans and the damage to their fisheries. What I'm wondering is If your local reservoirs are seeing these white pelicans also. Please respond if your local lake are seeing these White pelicans respond and your thoughts. Thank You Tenncrappie.

I have saw those here but not in big numbers maybe because of all the grass that we have for the fish to hide In but I have saw them on some other lakes in large #s and those lakes have been struggling the last few years as far as #’s .I’ve brought it up to a few folks about how much they say those things can eat but they tell me that they eat mostly small bait fish ?

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I fish that area quite often. This was taken not very long ago

Old Hickory has had a strong pelican population for several years. Crappie fishing has remained steady.

Look at water levels during the spawn and shortly afterwards, it explains 90% of the variations in crappie year class strength.

While I am certain these birds will and do eat crappie, my best guess is that they are after baitfish like shad.

I have been to a couple lakes here in Oklahoma that have a lot of birds hanging around all the time. When I get on the water I notice a crazy amount of bait fish and that’s what attracts the birds. I also have a local lake that I use to slay them all the way up to 2018 and then just shut off. I’m lucky if I catch one now. I can’t call it.

If they are eating tons of bait fish. They are still effecting to fishery in my mind. They more the birds eat the less the fish have to eat. They birds in the photo I posted above where on bait fish. Their were lots of bait fish in that bay

This lake I was at I had never seen so many birds. I was surprised I didn’t hit one or get pooped on. The shad was so bad that throughout the entire day I would mark what I thought was structure, turn around just for it to be shad balls. I don’t think the birds could’ve put a dent in the shad population. Here is a pic of what it looked like. I wish I could’ve transferred some to another lake I knew that needed shad. Lol

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Wow now that is thick with Shad.

Check your partners freezer he been sending me pictures all winter of limits with a note attached saying dont tell chris

lol

Chris you better get the dust off those boards, its already starting down this way in the creek and those Peilcans aren't effecting the fish I am catching! LOLOL
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Those are some nice ones

Chris...for whatever reason the crappie population seemed to "peak" in 2013 on the "Chick". TWRA electro-fishing surveys before and after that year haven't been close to the number of black and white crappie that were found in the survey that year. It was around that time when the Florida strain bass that were stocked here grew up into double-digit giants and probably have quite a few crappie on their menu. It's hard to say why the numbers are a bit off but like the river itself it has an "ebb and flow" and always changing.

Sent from my SM-G996U using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app

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Originally Posted by Muskrat

Chris...for whatever reason the crappie population seemed to "peak" in 2013 on the "Chick". TWRA electro-fishing surveys before and after that year haven't been close to the number of black and white crappie that were found in the survey that year. It was around that time when the Florida strain bass that were stocked here grew up into double-digit giants and probably have quite a few crappie on their menu. It's hard to say why the numbers are a bit off but like the river itself it has an "ebb and flow" and always changing.

Sent from my SM-G996U using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app

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That was also when Lake Guntersville was on fire for crappie. From what friends still down there have said it is nowhere near like it was then. Hopefully we will see those type of fish again in the future

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bfish

Old Hickory has had a strong pelican population for several years. Crappie fishing has remained steady.

Look at water levels during the spawn and shortly afterwards, it explains 90% of the variations in crappie year class strength.

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And cormorants. My goodness the cormorants in the station camp creek and laguardo area.

:Rofl:crazy:

They started on Lake Barkley, in Kentucky, ten or twelve years ago. Our populations are down also.