Question time

Do you have to ketch big crappie or are just whatever size ones that are biting still fun for you ?
I am about ketchn them myself , size is what it is , big ones are way fun for sure ...
but the in between ones and the really little ones make me happy as well ....
just wondering yawls opinion .....
I been just standing on herds of them lately that range from really small to a bit over legal ....
and they are quite frankly making me pretty darn happy to visit that spot ...
so what say ya ?
and yes KABOOM is the word :cheers2
really liking a white and chart curly tail lately btw , right off the bottom and at super creep speed .....just fyi

I enjoy catching any size crappie but it’s nice to have a larger one ever now and then.

I am a numbers guy.

I'm a just happy to be fishing guy. But, like everybody I like that slab grabbing too.

I take what the good lord blesses me with.

I take quanity over quality but if I know they are going to be small I break out the size 500 reel with 2lb test and microlight rod. I use to fish a pond with stunted crappie and I would have a ball catching 9 inch crappie.

I like catching the big ones but here in Indiana those are rare. Biggest one I’ve ever caught was a 2.70.
Lake I’ve been fishing lately is full of 10-12 inch fish with occasionally a 14.
I loaded freezer with 10-11 inch fish for the winter. Lake has zero structure and plum full of grass.
Water temp Monday and Tuesday was 37-39 degrees and they have quit schooling. I only had 1 fish each day. Very shallow lake with 12.5 being the deepest part.
They are now buried in the grass. The ones that aren’t deep in the grass are very spooky and you can’t get within 25-30 feet from them before they go back into the grass.
Sorry for the long winded reply.


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I like to catch 9" and up. If much smaller after a few fish, I'll troll on to the next spot.
Reminds me of an old blowdown I use to fish. For years nothing but babies. 6-8.5" fish. It's still that way. They'll hit anything. They'll take every minnow you got.

I like most fishermen, like catching big fish, having said that I just enjoy fishing, catching is bonus.

I love feeling that magical THUMP!! Any size is fun but the bigger the better. I only keep 9” plus fish but when I got the grand kids the more bites the better.

Bon Temps!!!

Catching is fun but it nice when you can get on the big fish too.

The way I see it every monster crappie was once a little miniscule thing so I like em all

All of the above. I dont mind having to work through 30 or 40 less than crappie to pick 8 or 10 good eaters. This may sound like i am kidding but i dont mind losing a few bigguns along the way. They going back anyway and saves me the trouble:)

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Well guess it's time to chime in. Frankly I have standards within 2 categories - Tacos & Hammers. I am always fishing for Hammers these days, I keep quality Tacos as a by-catch. I don't target Tacos anymore. The few on this site that have fished with me know I throw a bunch back. I like to judge a Taco before tossing into the cooler, I turn them so I can look at them along their back. If the fish is 11-12 inches but poor - skinny I toss them back. If it looks like there is no meat up near the Dorsal fins I toss them back to gain weight. :twocents

I very rarely keep any. Only if we don’t have any in the freezer and we don’t eat crappie that much. Girls would rather have Gorton’s :banghead

I just love the catching. Big numbers and the limit aren’t important either. I do love the eating so a good mess is all I need to keep.

Fishing and catching anything is what pleases me. Big is a bonus.


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8.5 inch to 9.5 inch IMO make the best fillets. Thin, crispy, and perfect texture.

Don't get me wrong, I'll eat the big ones also - but my favorites now are the smaller fish.

Little ones til I catch a dozen, then on to the big girls! Like the saying goes, size matters!

I'd rather catch one slab over 20 small ones. Been lean in the slab department this year. Did get one approaching 15" this year recently but until I caught that one big crappie for the year was a 13". I want them big enough to be worthy of a picture before releasing them. Not many crappie pics on my phone this year, much better with the bass this year.

As for me, I just like fishing. Size doesn’t matter. I do have to admit when they are so small when I set the hook and they fly over the boat I will move on fairly quickly.
They are many times I go out and do nothing but catch and release. Doesn’t matter that day if they are eight inches or seventeen inches. They’re going back.
Thats why I don’t post a lot of katchn pictures.
I also have a hand full of folks that are not as blessed as I am and only get to go once per month or less. So I love scouting. That’s the real fun I have with FFS. They still have to figure like we all do depth, what they are bitting you guys get the picture.
I have a guy going this weekend. If he takes my advice with everything lining up he should be able to catch a mess of fish. So for me it doesn’t matter, just like fishing.


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When it comes to many small, slow moving finesse lures, I don't have a choice what I catch. I'm talking over 30 fish of species and sizes every time I go. But as many have noticed from my posts, catching fish - regardless of size - on various lure designs and types, are the only reason I fish. So whatever bites my creations is fine with me and the guys I fish with! The more strikes the merrier! :highfive (In fact they're the ones that usually catch the lunkers.:yikes)

I am happy if I catch a turtle ..... as long as I don't get skunked!

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Originally Posted by ACAMS

I am happy if I catch a turtle ..... as long as I don't get skunked!

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that there is extreme bro , just saying :Rofl

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Originally Posted by ACAMS

I am happy if I catch a turtle ..... as long as I don't get skunked!

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Turtles count as a skunk buster? Naw!

I try to not catch turtles, there mouths are so hard they ruin your hooks. Quick story though, me and my pops were fishing at a nice pond one day behind some houses, and had a stringer of about 30 sunfish. My dad kept every fish he caught, and he only fished for bluegill with worms and bobber. Out of nowhere our stringer starts drifting into the water, and it was a massive turtle, easily over 100 lbs, made off with our fish!! But I got him back, kind of. We were out another day, and I hook into a snag, but as I'm reeling I notice something is alive, and it was the turtle, had him snagged in the hind leg. My dad and I are pretty amazed at its size and right when it gets to the bank, the line snaps. Good thing though cause little did I know those bigguns can stick their neck way out and reach back and bite your fingers off

Those snappers can get ya quickly. I use to catch them out of our pond. And they will take any fish on a stringer, they took many of mine from that same pond.

Saw a big'n in my pond this summer watching me feed bread balls to a school of sunnies and 4 small painted turtles. Both were waiting for bread.
Attachment 497923

Had a neck almost as big as my wrist! I found out they mostly eat dead animals but will snack on small turtles and fish. Their vice-like jaws must have some power in order to collapse a turtle's shell like nuts with a nutcracker!

I still wonder where it traveled from to make its home in a manmade pond miles away from the nearest lake or river.

Bread is a surprisingly great bait. Saw a kid catch a 25 lb grass carp one evening on the cigar method, take a whole slice of bread and jist mold it around the hook and line and cast out. It was floating and hit topwater. He caught a bunch of catfish with it too

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Originally Posted by Happyfisherman

Bread is a surprisingly great bait. Saw a kid catch a 25 lb grass carp one evening on the cigar method, take a whole slice of bread and jist mold it around the hook and line and cast out. It was floating and hit topwater. He caught a bunch of catfish with it too

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I use to work in a office park that had a pretty good size pond with some canals running off it. I use to feed 3-4lb channels with Wendy fries. They would come right up to the top and slurp them down.

I’m happy Ketchn fish and happier when said fish are of a larger variety.

Catching is better than nothing!! But sometimes nothing is okay too!!

Back in the spring I caught a turtle in a bass tournament and was gonna weigh it in as a joke ..... BAD MOVE, they thought I was using live bait, but I foul hooked him on a swim bait.

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Originally Posted by Happyfisherman

Bread is a surprisingly great bait. Saw a kid catch a 25 lb grass carp one evening on the cigar method, take a whole slice of bread and jist mold it around the hook and line and cast out. It was floating and hit topwater. He caught a bunch of catfish with it too

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my bait of choice when I was a real young one , ketched all kinds of fish on bread back when , used to specifically target big carp , but about everything will eat bread , catfish ,trout , sunfish , and the list goes on ....

Some days the Good Lord only leads you to little ones. Enjoy the catch and the keepers will be there another day.

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Originally Posted by Gone Fishin'

Some days the Good Lord only leads you to little ones. Enjoy the catch and the keepers will be there another day.

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facts bro ....blind pitching a jig goes just like that .....ya ketch what ya ketch

As much as I would rather catch slabs sometimes you learn things by catching small crappie. Yesterday I fished a 15 acre lake that I never fished before. Water is super cold somewhere in the 30's and no wind. First and only crappie caught was this little one. Even though it was small it was chunky for it's size so that indicates to me that he/she is getting enough to eat and lake has a good forage base. Other lakes might be so skinny that you can practically see through them holding them up to the light. That fat little crappie told me I need to fish this lake more.Attachment 498000

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Originally Posted by Ketchn

my bait of choice when I was a real young one , ketched all kinds of fish on bread back when , used to specifically target big carp , but about everything will eat bread , catfish ,trout , sunfish , and the list goes on ....

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When I was a kid we used the cheapest biscuit dough we could find. Bluegill, Catfish and Carp would tear them up.

I like to catch crappie. (Always on my hand ties) Don't really care what size they are. Of course hooking a big un is always extra fun.Attachment 498016

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I like them all biggins and small ones.