Karma?

[Jerry Blake]

We don't have a minimum length limit for crappie or any other species on Lake Greeson and that puts us in a bit of a quandary when trying to decide which fish to keep and which fish to release.

It's a bit easier in the cooler months when we can throw some dinks in the box to make sure we're going to get a mess and then release them later if we decide we don't need them. But, once the surface temps reach 70-degrees it's difficult to keep our "keepers" fresh so I put ice in the water in my live-well and once they've been in ice-water there's no releasing them.

Of course it's ultimately up to the person that caught the fish to decide whether or not to keep it but as their "guide" they usually ask me. Generally I prefer not to keep any black crappie under 9-inches or any white crappie under 10-inches and once we have enough for dinner I prefer to keep only 10-inch and better of both species unless of course we have a "suicide" that's hook-injured and not going to live anyway.

So, what I tell folks when they catch a questionable keeper that we really don't need is, "Lets let it go to help our Karma" and suggest that by letting the small ones go they have a better chance of catching a good-ole-bigun.

Of course it's reasonable to expect to catch bigger fish in the future by releasing small ones now so they can get bigger but I'm suggesting that they'll increase their odds of catching a bigger fish now. Maybe it just boils down to having a positive attitude but it seems to work.

After releasing about 30 D-fish (dinks under 10-inches) today while only putting a few eaters (11/12-inchers) and a couple gooduns (13/14-inchers) in the box in the first two hours of this morning's trip we finally cashed in some Karma and found some good-ole-biguns and plenty of eaters:

The biggest two were 17.5 and 18-inches and each weighed 2-pounds, 3-ounces. This was the first time any of the crew fished with me but they assured me they'll be coming back for more. They all caught over their limit and released about half of what they caught so they know there will be plenty to catch next time.

[CrappieKillerJigs]

looks like another great trip...keep up the great work jerry

[badbrad]

Man Jerry, sure do know how to make a guy feel bad. We're just hoping to be able to get back out in some fishable water soon and your wearing them out. Gotta make a trip down to see you some time.

[Jerry Blake]

Man Jerry, sure do know how to make a guy feel bad. We're just hoping to be able to get back out in some fishable water soon and your wearing them out. Gotta make a trip down to see you some time.

Hey badbrad:

I heard y'all were messed up pretty bad over there - I hate that. It was about this time last year that we got flooded and messed up for a while.

You might just as well slip on over here and snatch up some gooduns while things are messed up there. I'll be glad to show you where we've been catching them.

[skiptomylu]

Jerry on Toledo Bend the limit is 50 per and a 10" minimum, but starting Dec 1st through Feb there is no Minimum and you can't throw any back. I think this was because of a some what famous fishing hole here called the Chicken Coop and it's a river hole, meaning the river has a good bend there and it's deep so the fish are like 40' down. SO in place of trying to get people to revive a crappie that has just been yanked up 40' they just said keep all you catch and the limit is still 50 per so no throw backs.

I personally don't fish in the winter and the Coop it too far North of me so never been there.

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