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What are y'all's opinions on releasing females that are full of eggs. I do release most of the bigger females, am I just tossing them back for the next guy that comes down the bank to put her in his livewell??
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If there were a shortage of crappie, I may be concerned. It's my understanding that we do very little to them recreational fishing. Besides, are we just going to keep her some other time of the year when she isn't full of eggs? FTR, I fish catch and release more often than not because I simply cannot use all that I catch.
I release. One can’t control how others choose to preserve or conversely destroy the fishery for future generations but I can do my small part. JM2C’s
I release everything this time of year. I do understand that someone may come behind me and keep the fish. For me I feel it is right to let them have a chance to reproduce for the good of the fishery. That being said I have food to eat and do not need to keep that fish to eat. I do hope that because I caught that fish it may be harder to catch for a day or two. Maybe someone will see me return the bigger ones and decide to do the same. The old timers certainly believed in leaving some for seed
As as rule I hardly ever fish much this time of the year, so when I do I keep a mess and go home. The few that I keep I don’t think will hurt. Besides I have fish in the freezer from fall and winter.
I don't know....Does it really matter what time of year you take out a female? Either way, you're preventing that female from spawning this year or next year.
I have fished farm ponds for almost 70 yrs., Toledo Bend since day one. My opinion, the very worst thing you can do for a healthy fish population is to not fish it. And I mean fish it hard. Doesn't matter if it's a 3 acre pond or 181,000 acre lake.
I’m in agreement with this. The impact of over population is detrimental to the health of fish.Quote:
Originally Posted by bobgill
A biologist once told me that saline / larto could never be “fished” out.
In my opinion the problem with a lot of lakes is removal of grasses that afford fish cover and spawning areas that we can’t get into.
Certainly is dependent on the lake or river system
I rarely catch fish so when I do……I keep all of them….
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I believe the increase is popularity of fishing for a species also factors in. At least in my opinion. I target crappie mostly and catfish a tine or to a year. I believe this year I will add some more types to the list.
I am a believer in the biologists for the Ky fish and wildlife and believe that if taking females during the spawn was a problem there would be some regs on it. They study the populations and have the data.
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I also believe this.Quote:
Originally Posted by bobgill
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I am a catch and release guy. Mostly because I do not eat what I catch, which would be a thing for me. I was raised if you need to eat then eat what you catch. I hunt for food at the grocery market. I do not hunt for fun. I do fish for fun, so releasing is the way for me. Secondly, I am too lazy to to do the work of cleaning and preparing the fish. rotflbeen there done that. Someday if it takes that to eat then I will do it again. We all do what is the best for us. If you feel better for releasing, then do it. If a guy needs food, then he should keep. No harm, no foul. :fish
You're right not all angler's on here catch a lot of fish and when they do get a mess it's great that they have something to enjoy at the end of the day or whenever they decide to cook them. Great opinions guys, each worth the time it took to answer the thread. Personal preference and common sense is what makes this sport of Crappie fishing what it is. We all aren't going to agree with each other every time. It's was awesome to get other anglers in other states opinions. We're all blessed with an abundance of fishing opportunities. I believe it was Bill Dance that said "Keep what you can use and release the rest" even though I think he's talking about bass, the same can be used here. Great guysQuote:
Originally Posted by fishervet
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Great advice for everything that is caught or harvested
I will add to it that I don’t believe in being wasteful or greedy either. The best sportsman is a conservationist and the best conservationist is a sportsman imo.
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Very well saidQuote:
Originally Posted by CentKyPaddler
Completely agree with this! I know of a lake that suffers from an underfishing problem and also b/c of the underfishing, there are not many fish taken out. Now that lake produces almost nothing but 4" to 6" crappie. I have caught and released and I have caught and put back. As long as you follow the restrictions set by wildlife & fisheries, I don't have a problem with keeping their catch, I also don't have a problem with putting some back. It's kind of like an outboard motor, the worse thing you can do to it, is to NOT use it! Just like the worse thing you can do to a pond/lake is NOT fish it! Just my 2 cents.Quote:
Originally Posted by bobgill
Agents cite two men for fishing violations in Catahoula Parish - Louisiana Sportsman
This is why some post big catches and others can’t get a bite!
I agreeQuote:
Originally Posted by shadow
I just don’t understand what motivates those types.Quote:
Originally Posted by Slab Hunter
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Greed is a strange motivation
I can’t say I’ve seen a public body of water over populated with crappie…..
But I can list several small public lakes that are almost void of crappie because of overfishing…….
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I was talking to a fella under a bridge on Lake Guntersville during a thunderstorm. They were from Kentucky I believe. Said that there lake had no size limits on fish alway you could catch was small ones. He blamed it on the no size limit. Looking back it was probably the fact that the lake was overpopulated with crappie
There is a lake in my hometown with a crappy ramp and little parking. It doesn’t get pounded by fisherman because of this. You would think this lake had potential to be a honey hole but the fishing there is terrible. Its owned by the city water department and they would love to close the lake altogether. Fish and wildlife doesn’t manage this lake either. All the crappie are runts and be honest its a waste of time to go out there.
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Grew up on a water department lake. That one olso would close it to fishing if they could
at route u's last MTL gathering the biologist for area was there and he chuckled when folks talked to him about spawns and over fishing. says lake is full o crappie and the fishermen have little affect. more important was water levels during spawn and even if it's higher they still spawn just not where folks expect them to. so many guys superstitions are meaningless.
On my home lake you can ketch literally hundreds of what we call bugeyes, 4 to 7 inch crappie. most folks fish for green carp on lake and release those. A few of us do fish and keep crappie and if you know where to go you can ketch some really big ones. Personally I release anything 13+ and bigger simply because they will grow bigger and someone else will have the pleasure and have plenty of filets from the prime eaters and do keep 8 inchers just to take more out of population and also have buddies who come fill up coolers full so they can stock other lakes where they do grow to good size. even those bugeyes have good genetic potential and do get to good size. but more need to be taken out would really help population.
Overpopulation is a concern
What exactly do you look for to find the bigger slabs?Quote:
Originally Posted by hdhntr
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What lakes?Quote:
Originally Posted by MO Slab
My understanding talking to the wildlife biologist that smaller fish spawn better than the larger fish, where I fish everything under 12” go back anyway, So the moral to this story is to catch what you want and throw back what you don’t
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As long as you do what you feel is right for you. Then all is well. As with everything is well.
Crooked creek is one that comes to mindQuote:
Originally Posted by PMantle
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this article may be of interest sackofmilk.pdf
Good read Randy. Thanks