Making a slot limit

[slimecoat]

We have no slot limit here so any size is fair game. What size is perfect for keeping? What size is worth it to fillet? Whats would you consider a trophy? What would you consider a dink?

Thanks!

[willfish4food]

On my home lake we have 10" limit on crappie but I would much rather see a 12" limit.

[chaunc]

Up here in n/w Pa., we dont have a size limit but i'd keep a 9" crappie if it looked fat enough to get a couple nice fillets from it. I personally have set a 10" size limit for myself on good days and most times i'll only keep 10 at this time of year as i already have fish in my freezer. An 11" crappie is considered a slab on my home lake.

[crappie52]

i think 9 inches are way to small, 11 and 12 are good. and i think black crappie taste better. just my opinion

[bttmline]

I don't think 9" is to small to eat. In fact I think it would be better to keep the 9-11" inch fish and return the larger fish for brood.
Tim

[wrwest]

For me any thing under 9 inches is a dink. If it late in the day and about ready to go home and catch a nice slab. Will will turn it loose too...

[CrappiePappy]

some lakes have no size limit ... usually due to overpopulation or the inability of those waters to produce fish of any size.

Some lakes have a 9" minimum size limit ... others have a 10" size limit -- again, due to their ability to produce & maintain a viable population.

IMHO ... the way I see it, the Fisheries people have set these limits to protect the population, and still produce a viable number of keepable fish. Size limits and creel limits are their tools.

Now, to answer your questions : IMHO -

perfect size for keeping - minimum legal length for that body of water

perfect fillet size - 9" or larger (depending on your filleting abilities)

trophy size - (assuming you mean big enough to have "mounted") 3lbs or larger

a dink - any Crappie too small to legally keep (and in the case of no size limit waters ... anything under 9")

Alot depends on what body of water the fish comes from, too. Case in point - a local lake produces a 10" fish that weighs less than 1/2lb ... whereas another lake's 10 incher may weigh close to 1lb. So ... length isn't always the only determining factor in what makes a "keeper", to me. ..... cp

[chaunc]

i think 9 inches are way to small, 11 and 12 are good. and i think black crappie taste better. just my opinion

I come down to Ky lake every spring and throw back EVERYTHING under 10"s. I go in the cleaning stations and check other peoples catches and the trash cans and see a h*ll of a lot of short fish there. That doesn't influence me to keep them tho. I go there to get big slabs. I can catch 7 to 11" crappies at home consistently. Altho i do get quite a few bigger up here, they aren't as plentiful as down south. You can get a good fillet from a fat 9"er, no matter where you fish.

[CrappieLips]

I'm like chaunc, I throw the 9'' back unless their real thick, worth filleting, The Slabs around That we catch are 15'' to 17'', They average weighing
2 1/2 to 3 lbs