WHAT'S HAPPENED TO THE BITE ON MY FAVORITE LAKE???

If you have been fishing the same lakes for the last few years with good results and suddenly it seems like you are having trouble finding good keeper sized fish… or it seems like you are having to work extra hard to find a mess of keeper sized fish; this article may give you the information you need to help you understand what might be going on… why it might be going on… and how long it could take for things to change for the better.





Spawning habits for the two crappie species are very similar. They (both) typically spawn one time per year sometime in mid-March to early June, and here in the southeast, usually in water temperatures in the mid-60s, and in depths from 3 feet up to about 6 feet. Males of both species choose build and guard nest sites that are usually situated in colonies. Both species mature early (usually within 3 years) usually have a life expectancy of 5-6 years and are considered very prolific reproducers among fish species. A large female for example may produce well over 100,000 eggs.

So Does This Mean Crappies Are An Unlimited Resource?

The common belief among fisherman is that crappies provide an unlimited and continually renewing resource is simply false. Is it possible to take all the crappie out of a lake? Of course not, but crappies, like any other fish, are subject to (both) intense year around predation and fishing pressure, which can make a considerable impact in the overall population balance of a lake year to year. In some lakes, especially those with poor spawning habitat, lower nutrient levels or those more prone to drought conditions or frequent low water levels, recruitment — (the number of young fish that survive beyond the first year of their lives) — is already much lower so that predation and fishing pressure have a far more drastic impact on the numbers of fish that even make it to maturity. It is clear that both of these factors (natural and external) are continually at work to negatively impact the numbers of mature fish that can even be managed in a lake year to year to keep it balanced and productive.



Adding to the problem… crappies typically don't get off a good spawn until around age 3, at about 10 inches long. Second-year fish, 6-8 inches, occasionally do lay some eggs, but not nearly as many as more mature fish. Crappies in their fairly short 5 or 6 year life span only effectively spawn 2 or 3 years if they are lucky—that is if they live that long without being eaten by a predator or being harvested by an angler. These facts should really begin to show us the importance of maintaining certain numbers of mature crappies in our area lakes and reservoirs consistently year to year and especially since fishing pressure on our lakes have reached record high numbers for the last two years.

Are State Regulations Enough To Protect Our Lakes?

The quick answer to this question is absolutely not! Sure, biologists try to set size and creel limits so that fisheries can sustain even heavy angling pressure, but it's still not… and probably will never be an exact science… or enough oversight... so it is clear the real conservation of our fisheries truly resides with the fishermen themselves. This is sadly where I believe we lose the handle on things… because as a general rule… human nature tends to be to catch all the fish possible when they are most vulnerable and not worry near as much about tomorrow until tomorrow comes.

Modern day anglers have much more knowledge, skill and high-tech equipment than ever before in the history of crappie fishing and have learned to take full advantage of fish during the times of the year when they are most vulnerable. In this example let’s just take a quick look at Jordan Lake here in Central North Carolina and try to apply some safe hypothetical numbers in order that we might begin to see the impact that fishermen can have on the fish population balance of our area fisheries.



A notorious winter hotspot at Jordan Lake is the “pinch-point” at the Hwy 64 Bridge in late winter when everyone knows that (conservatively speaking) there are 35-40 boats per day fishing at that location with at least two anglers per boat (average) or 60-80 fishermen who are fishing that location per day. If (only) 60% of these anglers (each) caught 40 total fish to cull his or her limit of 20 ten inch fish… that’s 1,400-1,900 fish per day that are caught at that location alone. If these averages continued for the entire 3 – 4 week period (30 days) that crappies are holding at that location… that’s nearly 50,000 crappies that are caught and removed at that location over that 30 day period alone.

Those numbers would also mean that there are about 800 undersize fish that are caught and released at that location per day. If it is reasonable to say that at least 10% of those caught and released fish will die from being deep hooked or from the negative effects of barotrauma… that would tend to indicate there were approximately 80 undersize fish that die each day at that location alone… or 2,400 undersize fish that will die over the 30 day period that crappies tend to hold at that location alone.



I spoke to a fish biologist with the North Carolina Department of Wildlife Resources Commission recently about the subject who said that crappie species in some of the smaller North Carolina lakes and reservoirs sustain an annual harvest of as many as 30-40 percent of the entire 3 year old and older adult population. This should begin to show you that heavy fishing pressure (year around) over a period of just one year… can easily eradicate almost half of all mature fish in a heavily fished lake or waterway. If you look at the equation over two years time you can see that it is reasonable to think that 70-80% of all mature fish might be removed from these lakes.



He went on to say:

"Overharvesting clearly affects the fish size ratios of a lake and "I think a lot of anglers assume crappies are an unlimited resource that can't be overharvested, but that's quite simply not the case at all."

“Crappies are prone to what is known as stunting. Because a strong year-class often dominates in a lake or reservoir, crappie might appear some years to be all of the same size or “stunted”. When these fish of a strong year-class grow large, however, the lake can quickly gain a reputation as a crappie hot spot which tends to draw more fishing pressure as the word gets around and then over the course of a couple of more years might just as quickly fade into mediocrity as a younger year class takes over again and the population crashes and the cycle starts all over again. This cycle is why you hear so much about lakes tending to have (either) a few really nice crappies and lots of small ones, or a good number of good-sized fish with few small or large ones.”

It is clear that crappie populations are cyclic or erratic in (both) abundance and size distribution in any lake or waterway. When a strong year class develops in a lake, it can dominate the population for several years. Reproduction is limited and survival of young crappie is low until the dominant year class has been thinned out or environmental and hydrological conditions again become favorable for survival of young crappie. This pattern usually results in two to three years of good fishing followed by two to three years of fair to poor fishing… which may be the part of the crappie life cycle where your area lake is this year.

So there it is!! The dominant year class may survive longer with more stringent regulations, less fishing pressure and more conscientious conservation efforts by fishermen. What if anything are you going to do differently to aid in this effort???

Thanks for reading this article. Please respond and let me know what you think and please speak up with anything you have add to this very interesting topic.

Best Regards & May God Bless You!!!

Wayne, aka Special K