Thread: Main Forage Food for Crappies In Weiss Lake?

I don't know if they are threadfin or gizzard or both. I do know there are a ton of them and they eat them 24-7 365! There is an unbelievable amount of forage in this lake. If they would lower the limit and personally I would like the length limit to be 12 inches, then you would have a tremendous fishery. We have too many out of state fisherman taking too many fish home. A friend of mine and a CDC member ran into some Ky. guys the other day who told him they had to get enough fish to feed 500 people at there church fish fry. He wanted to know why they didn't catch them in Kentucky. I wondered the same thing.

Originally Posted by footballcoach

I don't know if they are threadfin or gizzard or both. I do know there are a ton of them and they eat them 24-7 365! There is an unbelievable amount of forage in this lake. If they would lower the limit and personally I would like the length limit to be 12 inches, then you would have a tremendous fishery. We have too many out of state fisherman taking too many fish home. A friend of mine and a CDC member ran into some Ky. guys the other day who told him they had to get enough fish to feed 500 people at there church fish fry. He wanted to know why they didn't catch them in Kentucky. I wondered the same thing.

I would personally tell them they are only allowed to keep one days possesion limit for transporting across state line, when our group comes to fish Weiss we play by the rules because that’s the law!

Weiss is pimped out...

I think you get a conflict between your local and State Tourism Deparments advertising “come to Lake Weiss” and spend your vacation dollars and your State DNR is caught in the middle sometimes. If DNR changes the fishing regs then the State Tourism crys your going to hurt tourism, and it definitely needs to be a balancing act. Lake Weiss has always been a very strong presence in a ton of Boat and Sports Shows advertising their fishing and lake activities all over even here in Indiana and that is not a bad thing for the tourism economy, but it definitely has an effect on your fishing.

I wish the state would crack down on the guys who are raping our waters. I never keep short fish and I wouldn’t keep more than a limit if I knew with 100% certainty that I wouldn’t get checked. These lakes are a natural resource, not a factory. I have a reputation for being an *** and people will find that to be true if I run into them with more than a limit of fish. They’ll get to sit there til the game warden arrives if I catch them. I have all the local GW’s cell numbers and have a good rapport with all of them.

But to answer the original question, the most common thing that crappie on Weiss and Guntersville feed on are 2” curly tails. They don’t get an opportunity to eat anything else.

Don’t just blame the out of state guys. I’ve watched people with Alabama numbers loading their boats up just as much as anyone. I watched a couple Alabama guys putting fish in the livewell that they weren’t even measuring and the fish didn’t look long enough from where we were. I wouldn’t mind seeing a 12 inch limit also!

I'm not just blaming the out of state guys. I blame all poachers, regardless of where they live. Poaching is done for one of two reasons. Greed or so they can brag about numbers. I don't have patience for either one.

Its not state tourism but local chambers of commerce, business owners and a few guides that worry about loss of revenue. The believe less people will come with lower limits and tighter restrictions. People who are truly crappie fisherman would rather come to a lake and catch big crappie rather than a bunch of small ones. I would say tourism and dollars around the Big 4 in Mississippi is doing well and its my understanding their regulations are strictly enforced. I want our local businesses to succeed. We are a rural county and the Lake provides much revenue to the county. However people will surely not come to a lake that is being over fished and declining each yr. Be proactive and solve the problem and don't worry about the greedy. I could care less if they stayed home and wished they would!