Slot limits for crappie????

[smedley]

I was reading the post on the new restrictions at Grenada and it got me to thinking...scary huh!!!

Are there any lakes that have a crappie slot limit? Do you think it would work for creating a trophy crappie lake?

It seems to me that crappie fishing is rapidly growing in popularity which could have lasting effects on the numbers of quality fish that we are catching now. This is the same situation that bass fishermen faced 30 or more years ago and is the reason for the catch and release campaign started by Ray Scott and B.A.S.S.

My opinion is that slot limits would work just the same for crappie as it works for bass. On the lake I fish, I catch a lot of 9-10 inchers. The standard 10" length limit applies there. I personlly don't like keeping them unless they are at least in the 11" range. However, as you know some people have the theory that if it's big enough to catch it's big enough to keep. So getting people to keep dinks shouldn't be a problem.

As I understand slot limits, the idea is to encourage people to keep smaller fish so the bigger ones have more forage and will get bigger and bigger over time while establishing a good amount of brood fish within the slot.

I would say a slot of 9"-11" or even 10"-12" would increase the average size of the crappie in a lake and could help produce a lot more of the 3 pounders that JWhite catches.

What do yall think?

...smedley

[Jason Piper]

It would probably work, but trying to keep people from keeping the slot sized ones would be near impossible! There are way to many crappie being kept every year on most lakes for the g&f to keep after and enforce it.
It is a good Idea though! I think it would work on small lakes (under 500 acres) that are not fished heavely.

[GRIZZ]

I think a good slot limit law should allow you to keep one fish above the slot limit for a trophy. Many do I believe.

[smedley]

Grizz..that's the way they work for bass at most lakes here in Texas. the lakes I grew up fishing in Missouri were mostly 12-15 inch slots and you could keep 6(I think) either over or under.

J.T. that's a good point, Warden's would have their hands full measuring a cooler full of crappie, especially if there were five of 6 people on a pontoon boat. And then, what happens to the fish if they are slot fish, they've already been on ice. I guess they could be donated to the food bank or something.

[crappieseeker]

smedley I already see the effects of over fishing and over taking in some of the places I fish. It use to be common in some of the places to catch good size fish. Many 16 and 17 inch fish were caught. Now the fish on average are alot smaller. I have been many times over the last 3 years and caught as many as 100 to 200 crappie with only having about 5 big enough to keep. That is with a 9 inch limit. Sometimes I've caught 100 with not even 1 being big enough to keep. That goes to show that more needs to be done. I return all undersize fish, and alot of times I turn loose even my big fish. I dont eat crappie, but sometimes I clean some for my friend, and sometimes I give some away. I return my fair share though.

[izzysfishin]

Would love to see it Scott. I call Truman my home lake, 9" length and 15 daily. It's still not to hard to catch a limit of 10" to 12" fish, with a few 12" to 15" fish in there, but it's getting more crowded all the time. How about the same daily creel but only fish but under 10" and only one 15" or over. Man I would love to catch 12 to 15 inch fish all day, even if I had to put em back.The smaller fish are better eating anyway...izzy

[smedley]

Just as an experiment a few years ago when I bass fished exclusively, I kept any 14-16 inch bass I caught all summer from one area that I fished a lot. By the end of the summer, I was catching three pounders or better on a regular basis. I even caught my biggest yet at 10.58 lbs in this area.

My theory is that I had removed enough of the smaller bass so the bigger fish would come in there and feed more often. I still do bass fish on occasion and now I'm catching the smaller ones again in this same area. I truly belive that if we were allowed to keep more of those smaller fish, the overall population would be better off. Ask anyone that has a stocked pond. After a while the fish will not grow over a certain size because of competition for food.

seeker..that sounds like a good place to get kids hooked on fishing. they don't care how big they are they just want to catch fish. I would say that your fishing hole is a definite candidate for a slot limit.

[smedley]

Izzy, we must have been typing at the same time. I've never fished Truman, but that's the lake that everyone in Missouri talks about when they talk crappie fishing. With a 15 creel limit, I think a slot could be better enforced there. We have a 25 limit here and think it would be a little more difficult. No matter how much you explain it to people they still don't understand why they have to throw back fish in the slot. Like a friend of mine in the car sales business says, "sir, I can explain it to you all day but I can't make you understand it."

[J White]

It doensn't really bother me what they do as far as regs, long as I could
keep a few of some fairly common size to eat - I'd rather eat a 9-10"
fish, given a choice. I agree, year-round crappie fishing sure has went
from non-existant to downright popular, least round here. But also, I
would be wary of what Beaver said, on the post about Grenada's new rules -
I have seen small lakes, less than
500 acres, that were just eat up with 6-8" fish, get just HAMMERED -
people carry 'em off by the hundreds - and fishing improved. Fish got
bigger, and still no shortage. I'm sure I don't know enough about
fish populations and growth, all that stuff to have a guess what is right
or wrong - hope those educated fisheries guys do!
An afterthought here - Sauger fishing below Pickwick - it got overfished bad, and all the
kings horses and all the kings men can't seem to make it right again! They've changed
the length and creel limits so often, I'd be scared to fish for them less I had talked to
a warden that morning and got the latest update!

[Darryl Morris]

Great thread and a topic I've thought much about the past several years. In my opinion, there are 2 regulatory options most widely used and they serve different purposes. The first is the length and creel limit. It's purpose is to maintain population. The second is a slot and creel limit. It's purpose is to increase size. I am sure that both work for their purposes and imposed by officials depending upon the body of water and it's conditions. Now, with that said, we should back up a step and consider what might do the most damage to population and size.

Certainly, over-fishing can do damage. But, as prolific as crappie are, I don't believe over-fishing is significant in most bodies of water, with the exception of small impoundments. However, I believe poor lake conditions (ie: low lake levels during spawn, nutrient poor, baitfish deficient, lack of habitat, and the introduction of a hyper-preditors, etc.) can have a larger impact on a species' population.

Now for the fun part - size. Everyone wants size, me too. And for years, catch and release was all the rave to allow fish to grow bigger. I definitely agree with everyone who pointed to over-population as a major factor in limiting size. Many anglers are now reaping the result from their own catch and release - mainly undersized, undernurished, diseased and genetically stunted fish. Awh, there's the key, genetics. Why it is not done more is beyond me. I believe, if states would have exchange programs to keep the genetic pool diverse and stock lakes with genetically superior fish while keeping the lake conditions good, we would all see bigger fish down the road and length/slot/creel limits wouldn't be as necessary.