Crappie migration during the year

[crappieslab]

Craig,
Is there any studies made public that shows crappie movment thruout the year such as tagged fish and somthing showing where they are in a body of water at certian times of year? I am from missouri and wish we had the opertunity to ask a bio. when I call office they all seem to be to busy to talk to you or call me back. ThanksThumbs UpThumbs Up

[labsnslabs]

There was a study done on Kentucky lake I believe. It was in an In-Fisherman magazine, it was done to determine the differences between the movements of black and white crappie. I think it was mostly during the spawn and summer.

[Craig Johnson]

Craig,
Is there any studies made public that shows crappie movment thruout the year such as tagged fish and somthing showing where they are in a body of water at certian times of year? I am from missouri and wish we had the opertunity to ask a bio. when I call office they all seem to be to busy to talk to you or call me back. ThanksThumbs UpThumbs Up

crappieslab,

I couldn't recall any crappie movement studies conducted in my time in Kansas so I checked with Chief of Fisheries Research in the KDWPT Emporia Investigations Office, Tom Mosher. Tom informed me that we have not done any studies on daily movement of crappie in Kansas. He also mentioned that our tagging studies give only limited data on crappie movements (the crappie tagging studies were designed to give data on exploitation rates vs. movement info). This limited data does show that crappie can and do move long distances over short periods of time, especially during the Spring and Fall months. One tagged crappie was shown to have traveled 6.75 miles in 2 days during March at Melvern reservoir. Many factors affect movements of crappie and these can vary from lake to lake.

I'll do some looking for studies when I get back in the office after completing my fall fish sampling to see if I can turn anything up. As labsnslabs mentioned, there are likely studies out there and a google search may produce the results you seek. Crappie are definitely a popular sportfish and many studies have been conducted.

Thanks for your question. Give your Missouri fish guys another holler when mid-November to early December rolls around. Depending on the season, fish guys can be very busy with field work and not around the office/phone much at all during the week. When winter sets in it is time to write management reports and the fish bios will be more accessible around the office. I've met very few fish biologists that don't enjoy talking 'fish' with other anglers!

[Craig Johnson]

crappieslab,

Here are a couple of studies on crappie movement for lakes located in Ohio and South Dakota. Hopefully they will give you some of the insight you seek.

http://pubstorage.sdstate.edu/wfs/123-F.pdf

Taylor & Francis Online :: White Crappie Summer Movements and Habitat Use in Delaware Reservoir, Ohio - North American Journal of Fisheries Management - Volume 11, Issue 4

[CrappiePappy]

labsnslabs is correct ... there was a study done on Ky Lake, and here's the resulting reports : Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources - Preliminary Results

... cp

[crappieslab]

Thanks guys sorry I havn't been able to get on the board in awile, thanks again and once the winter months roll around I will call some of the offices to see if I can get more info. Thanks again and thank you Craig for ALL your info that you give all members on here. Maybe the office can put a area on the local web sites that we all can ask questions (just a thought) Thanks again