pre spawn question

[MNKK]

Out of curiousuty...
Doea anyone believe in throwing the pre spawn females back this time of year, or do you keep them if they are big enough to keep? I'm all about game management, whether its hunting or fishing. I just thought I would ask. I know that I would personally throw one back if I could tell it had roe, but I would like any other input on it. Just curious.

[kickingback]

I always throw back the fat females. I believe in making sure there are fish for the next generation of fishermen.

[scrat]

There is no way to know for sure that you have a male or female other than maybe the female may have a swollen belly. The only sure fire way is to fillet them and then it is to late. I am wondering is it a certain size that will be the best breeder size, like 9"-11" or larger sizes like 12"- 17" as not being able to tell the true sex of crappie any other way. The only other way would be just not fish for crappie during the spawn,but I don't want to even go there because this is when I catch most of my fish during the Spring of the year. Also when a fish is caught even if you throw it back the chance of it living or being able to spawn afterward is no known. Some lakes have a slot limit and I am wondering if this is the reason the wildlife wardens or game biologist do this. I would like to know what everyone thinks about this myself. But please be careful on this one it can really be a sensitive subject on this. I would not want to cause any conflicts. I love to fish but I also want the younger kid's coming along to have a good fishery. Remember if it is legal please place a little fish habitat this will help put back what we take out. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

[ET Fish]

Scrat, that is a great response! I am wondering about all of this myself. Very anxious to hear the replies.

[DockShootinJack]

I would think that catching fish off the beds would be the worst thing. Pull a male off the bed and all the things he is guarding the eggs from rush in there and chow down. If the caught fish is thrown back he may or may not make it back to the nest. Personally and I stress personally ( this is what is right for me, you have to decide what is right for you. ) I don't fish the spawning areas. I will catch the fish as they have staged out after they have spawned. I only keep a few for a mess if I don't have any already in the freezer.

[CrappiePappy]

It really is a personal choice thing IMHO.

It can be detrimental to small lakes and can be costly to large lakes that have less than ideal spawning conditions for that year. But, in either case, it amounts to how much pressure is being exerted on that particular lake and the conditions it's under.

Sometimes it can even be a good thing, like when the lake is overpopulated with small fish and the lake doesn't have the food source or capacity to sustain their growth.

The geographical location of the waters is also a big factor, since more northern waters have shorter growing seasons ... so it takes their fish longer to get to harvesting size.

But, all in all, your state wildlife agency should have a handle on the situation and be able to manage the limits to where the majority of anglers have a chance at catching some. What the lake can produce, be it numbers or quality, is monitored & limits set to make the best scenario available for the general angling population.

Remember, all it takes is for a few fish to spawn in order for several thousand fry to survive to become spawners, themselves, in a couple of years. That offsets several hundred anglers catching a limit of spawning fish.

... cp

[Phishman]

I keep my crappie. I don't fish one lake enough to really do any damage after all the money I spend to go down there and everything to fish if like to bring home some filets. Crappie reproduce pretty well. I release all my big trophy Flathead catfish just because there far and few between and takes them so long to get to a really good size. Now I see the guys that take deep freezers down to the lakes with them and fill them up over the course of a month. Now I do believe this can do some damage because that's a serious amount of fish.

[Boa3]

Before we get on the freezer band wagon remember that a few of us take a small freezer because we are going to be there a week and trying to keep your fish fresh in ice for a week is almost impossible. We freeze our fish so we can have a good product when we go home. I don't want to waste any fish I work that hard to get.

[MNKK]

That makes sense.

[kickingback]

There is no way to know for sure that you have a male or female other than maybe the female may have a swollen belly....

Actually you can tell the difference between a male and female during spawn as the male will be darker than the female.
How to Tell the Difference Between a Male Crappie & a Female Crappie | eHow