Thread: Size Limit

I`m not the brightest star in the sky-- ok === having said that I have a not so bright question.
how can you take an 8to10 inch fish laying say 2000 eggs (figure of speech) and get more fish out of it then you can a 13 to 14 inch or better fish laying say 8000 (another figure of speech) or more eggs ? === having said that does it not seem that leaving the big fish for breeding (if more fish in the water is what you want) would be the thing to do?==still
my would be put a slot on them say 8to 12 or 13 inch at most. lets your little ones grow up into the keep range and your big ones stay for breeding.== again saying all that-- if the voting booth was at the edge of my yard I would not walk across it to vote because it don't matter to me== just my

I'm not sure how it works either, I am no biologist. But I do read anything and everything related to crappie. It has been proven that smaller fish spawn the best. Apparently they lay stronger eggs and have a lot better survival rate.

Originally Posted by brush pile

I'm not sure how it works either, I am no biologist. But I do read anything and everything related to crappie. It has been proven that smaller fish spawn the best. Apparently they lay stronger eggs and have a lot better survival rate.

There's also another factor there, small fish breed small fish, period. I would not want my fisherie built on half pound fish on purpose, you think Grenada, Washington, and Arkabutla in MS have huge crappie because they are spawning off dinks, NOT. Fish here in those 3 lakes will be in the 12 inch range in 3 years, yes they are prime lakes but for some reason they just keep producing huge fish but aren't overpopulated with small fish. Grenada had been tuff this year but what that has been caught have been real nice.

Thanks for everyone input, as brushpile said the survival rate of the small fish fry are 10 time that of the larger fish. Yes some lakes have larger fish than others and that is due to the water condition and bait and the type of fish that are in the lakes meaning white or black crappie.

That's right tommy the conditions of the lakes are what make the size fish, not the fish that spawned them. That is why I would never think of trying to make lake Murray a 12" trophy lake. It just doesn't have the food or habitat to provide 3lb fish. But santee and Clark's hill are prime areas to do something. I don't think the hill would work like butch said due to it being split with 2 states. But I would be very satisfied with a 10" limit. Just wish we could get everyone to obey creel limits.

Originally Posted by brush pile

That's right tommy the conditions of the lakes are what make the size fish, not the fish that spawned them. That is why I would never think of trying to make lake Murray a 12" trophy lake. It just doesn't have the food or habitat to provide 3lb fish. But santee and Clark's hill are prime areas to do something. I don't think the hill would work like butch said due to it being split with 2 states. But I would be very satisfied with a 10" limit. Just wish we could get everyone to obey creel limits.

That is the biggest problem we have...

Originally Posted by brush pile

That's right tommy the conditions of the lakes are what make the size fish, not the fish that spawned them. That is why I would never think of trying to make lake Murray a 12" trophy lake. It just doesn't have the food or habitat to provide 3lb fish. But santee and Clark's hill are prime areas to do something. I don't think the hill would work like butch said due to it being split with 2 states. But I would be very satisfied with a 10" limit. Just wish we could get everyone to obey creel limits.

Brush pile I have to disagree with the part about it doesn't matter what size fish spawns. Not saying all fry spawned from a small fish will be small but a fry from a larger fish has a head start. It is absolutely no different than a deer herd, why do we cull out 5 year old 6 points, not what we want breeding. Genetics is genetics, if all you have is 5 year old 6 points in your county then it will be very rare to have a new born grow into much more but if your county has 5 year old 10 points with 20 inch spreads then you expect the new borns to grow to be nice.
On Grenada, Washington, and Arkabutla people come from all over the country expecting to catch a three pound fish, is it because of the lake conditions they produce these regularly? Partly I suppose but I say that the other factor is the size of fish spawning to start with. A 3 pounder will lay out 4 or 5 times more eggs than a 1/2 pound fish will and a larger egg at that.
Over 30 years ago BASS did a study on largemouths and found without exception an eight pound bass' fry outgrew the fry from a 1 pound bass in the same environment.
We can just agree to disagree and I am fine with that but basketball players don't have midgets for parents, maybe 1 out of 10,000, but not the norm.

Using the same analogy as Rees Guide, I feel genetics is key here. Having fished both Mississippi and South Carolina's waters, and having caught white crappie from each state. A fish from each lake, the same length will not weigh the same. Mississippi fish are much thicker and heavier. Forage base is one critical aspect, but not the only one. Nutrient rich waters grow fish faster. Lakes used for flood control are nutrient rich, therefore whatever eggs that hatch and survive will grow to maturity faster, and will begin spawning sooner repopulating the lake. A state wide size limit is not feasible unless the size limit is kept relitivity short, say 8". The genetics and nutrients of some waters will not allow for it without stunted fish. Each body of water would have to be judged individually which will never happen.