How to measure Crappie

[Eager Beaver]

I just looked at Sac's picture of his nice Crappie and noticed that he measured it with the mouth open. Is that how you measure your fish where your from? We have to measure them with the mouth closed and the tail fin squeased together. The fish will lose about a half and inch closing the mouth. A lot of people get ticketed around here for not closing the mouth and end up with short fish which is 10 inches around here in most of the lakes.

[Jerry Blake]

We don't have any minimum length limits on the lakes I guide on but for the lakes that do have a minimum length limit the regulation requires that the fish be measured with it's mouth closed and the tail lobes pressed together.

It's easier for me to measure fish (for bragging rights) with my thumb in their mouth to hold their bottom lip up against the end of my Golden Rule so I measure them with their mouth open but I always round down to the nearest half-inch.

[CrappiePappy]

I think most places where there is a size/length limit, measuring is done with mouth closed & tail squeezed. It's done that way here, in KY. And it's the way I measure fish from TN & ALA, too. (Jerry has confirmed the same rule for ARK). I don't think Sac's picture was meant to be a guide on "how to" measure ... he probably just laid the fish down on the ruler to give us a general idea of how big they actually were (since it's hard to determine actual length in pictures of people holding them in their hands).

ANYTIME there is a length limit on fish ... it's always best to err on the side of caution --- making sure that the fish "exceeds" the length limit by a bit, because they can/do seem to shrink a little while in the livewell. And one short fish can cost you more than the whole trip, if you're checked by the Game Officer/Creel Clerk.

But, you raise a good point !! We should all know/follow the laws, of the states and waters we fish in. And we should all be more than willing to put a fish back, if it's a "close call" on size. We got the thrill of the bite, and the fight out of it ... but, if it's so close to being "short" - it's better to return it, and hope to catch it again, some day, when it's "bigger" :D (just my opinion, but I think I speak for a lot of us) ........... cp

[Pomoxis 2]

I always close the mouth, but some people I know don't. I think they get annoyed. On the other hand, I dont squeeze the tail. That is my safety margin, cause squeezin it makes them longer. I think that is the case for most fish species.

[crappieken]

In Illinois they have to be measured with the mouth closed and the tail squeezed together. I was out bank fishing a few days ago and there was an older gentleman, 78 years of age, sitting on a bucket with two poles out fishing for crappie with a cork and jig. I was standing 15 yards away and catching one small one after another and throwing them back in. He finally caught one about the length of my hand, stood up, unhooked it, looked intently at the fish and threw it in his bucket.I asked him if he knew the fish had to be10"and he replied "yea" and made no attempt to throw it back. I walked over to him and told him I knew most of the CPO's in our area and not only would they fine him, but probably raise a stink with me for standing there and allowing him to do it. He was not happy about it, but he finally threw it back.

[S10CHEVY]

Pennsylvania requires the same method.

[Eager Beaver]

Don't get me wrong. I wasn't trying to take away from his very nice fish. I was just wondering if that was how different people measured them. I know different states allow for different number of rods you can fish with at one time. We can only fish with 2 poles here in Ne. In Minn. you can only use 1 pole.

[Roberta]

Ohio also says mouth closed and tail squeezed together.
- Roberta

[izzysfishin]

I measure them on the average at least 4 - 10 inchers per person, if they eat more than that they're just being piggy.hehe Seriously I thought it was mouth shut tail pinched together just about everywhere.

[Cane Pole]

I weigh mine ! ha..



Just kiddin. Pinch tails, closed mouth. Got one of those plastic cups from Wal Mart. Never can find it when I need it though. Anyone ever have that problem?