Crappie Age and keeping big fish

[river scum]

So do I!!!

Another thing to consider is that pollutants (Dioxin, PCB's, and Mercury... just to name a few) are cumulative and really add up as a fish gets older... do you really want to be eating that suff, let alone feeding it to your wife and children?

thats my main reason for releasing larger ones. i keep 10-12"ers for the grease. Indiana has some pollution issues. lol

[blairarnold]

I fish mostly oxbow lakes in farming country where a lot of herbicides and some pesticides are used. I know we're not talking DDT or agent orange any more, but I do filet them as I read that nearly all pollutants (other than mercury which is not an issue anywhere I fish) will be in the bones and fat, so if you filet and make sure you pull off the little fat strips that run along the top and bottom of each filet, I figure I've got any bad stuff out of there. Having said that I do keep big crappie.

Usually this annual discussion breaks down to the southerners saying they keep big crappie because any crappie will get big if it lives long enough and the northerners saying to release big crappie so the genes will remain in the pool.

[Fish4life71]

big enough to fry big enough to die

[whackmaster]

Uhhh ...Stump Hunter...I don't think anyone was saying not to keep crappie....just wondering what is the best "size" to keep. I think most people have alot more serious issues to worry about than how much pcb's,mercury,..etc. they consume through fish fillets....such as obesity, smoking, ...the list is a mile long....unless you're eating alot of fish every month, I personally wouldn't worry about it !

[coyote]

our biologist here in N.E. Oklahoma said keep the size that you are catching the most of. If your catching mostly 8 inchers, keep em. If your catching a lot of 12 inchers, keep em.

[barry davis]

No wonder i dont feel well. Too many 16 inch crappie eaten. lol

[STUMP HUNTER]

Wackmaster, read the front page again. Most of the crappie fishermen I fish around know what size crappie are in the lakes we fish and know if the lake is going to have good size crappie or a lot of small fish. Some waters just don't put out fish over a pound so if you fish the lake you will be keeping fish around 1/2 pound. One lake we fish have good numbers of pound or over fish. Most crappie that are 1 pound will make good eaters and have nice fillets.

[J_ROW]

our biologist here in N.E. Oklahoma said keep the size that you are catching the most of. If your catching mostly 8 inchers, keep em. If your catching a lot of 12 inchers, keep em.

Coyote

Thats exactly what I been trying to say. Lets let the biologist handle it and let us handle the poles. I think ever one will come out better in the long run. I do believe they know what they are doing , or so it seems around my neck of the woods. We don't seem to have a problem with not having enough big fish , little fish, and in between fish. Nor do we have a problem with the numbers either. All we have a problem with is ever one trying to run the biologist and fish & wildlife agency job.

[NIMROD]

I fish mostly oxbow lakes in farming country where a lot of herbicides and some pesticides are used. I know we're not talking DDT or agent orange any more, but I do filet them as I read that nearly all pollutants (other than mercury which is not an issue anywhere I fish) will be in the bones and fat, so if you filet and make sure you pull off the little fat strips that run along the top and bottom of each filet, I figure I've got any bad stuff out of there. Having said that I do keep big crappie.

Usually this annual discussion breaks down to the southerners saying they keep big crappie because any crappie will get big if it lives long enough and the northerners saying to release big crappie so the genes will remain in the pool.

You can't get rid of all the pollutants by fillet'n fish .

[GCD]

big enough to fry big enough to die

That tickles me!.. I used to fish with a buddy from work and his dad, we called him pawpaw.

After they passed the 9" limit in 'Bama, ol' Pawpaw still wanted to keep everything he caught. He'd put 6, 7, and 8" fish in the livewell... we'd tell him, "we can't keep that that little anymore Pawpaw".. and ol' Pawpaw would just go to cussin!.. "he ate a bleep bleep 5 cent minnow didn't he? He's a bleep bleep keeper!!!" Then he'd really go to cussin' when we would pull his short fish out of the livewell and throw it back in the lake... he'd even threatened us with bodily harm if we did it again!:D:D:D