What states have biggest crappie?

[livemusic]

I live in NW Louisiana and I have caught quite a few crappie (white perch) on oxbow lakes and Toledo Bend and other reservoirs that are 2.5 to 2.75 lbs. Big'uns! I have heard of 3 lb. crappie 'round here. I saw Carl post a pic of big'uns and he lives in PA; not sure where he caught those.

How big do crappie grow where you fish? Curious, although, huge crappie isn't important to me as large numbers of slabs. I wonder what a slab is... 1.5 lb or more?

I see that Mississippi has several large lakes known for crappie; do they grow big there, too?

BTW, we have one really shallow lake here that is plagued with lots of small crappie; I wonder why that is? Is it underfished or what causes that?

Thanks, I don't know much about crappie, lol.

[CrappiePappy]

In Kentucky ...
Where I fish the most, locally ... Crappie in the 2lb range are fairly common, but not regularly caught (not by me, anyway).
In East Tenn ...
Where I fish 1-2 times a year ... Crappie in the 2lb range are common, but are sporadic catches (by me) at best.

Oddly enough, both state's State Record fishes came from small impoundments, not the larger lakes/reservoirs. KY recognizes both species (White/Black Crappie) as one, and the state record 4lb 14oz fish came from a West KY watershed lake. Tenn separates the two species, and the Black Crappie @ 4lb 4oz came from a 167ac lake, while the 5lb 1oz White Crappie came from a pond.

Any body of water that gets overpopulated will produce & maintain smaller sized fish, due in part from competition for the food source. Lack of enough predator fish or angling pressure will allow the prolific breeders (like Crappie) to overpopulate a body of water.

... cp

[bee]

Hate to say it but Maine has to be one of the best. Of coarse I am only saying it because I am here.

[Gomer Snerd]

Seeing you catchs I can see how you would think that. Makes me want to come that way!!!

[Tiger]

If you have caught "quite a few" white perch in NW La. between 2.5 and 2.75, you either know a lot about white perch fishing, or you need a new scale. I'm leaning toward the latter. That being said, the state of Mississippi is known to be the best big crappie state.

[livemusic]

If you have caught "quite a few" white perch in NW La. between 2.5 and 2.75, you either know a lot about white perch fishing, or you need a new scale. I'm leaning toward the latter. That being said, the state of Mississippi is known to be the best big crappie state.

Quite a few was a slight stretch... let's say 10 that size over many years. No, I don't know a lot about it but have access to a private oxbow lake that grows big ones and I would catch them in the spring and also, years ago we caught some huge crappie on Toledo Bend for a couple of years. My buddies showed me what they were catching and I joined in. It was awesome catching slab after slab. We also caught a couple that big in an Arkansas lake over the years. Anybody could have done it; it was just a matter of knowing where and how deep, plus, feeling the bite except on the oxbow, we used a cork. Just watch it go under.

[Boa3]

In Illinois a 15 inch fish is huge. Most are 10 inches and not near as thick as the fish are down south. At least this is my experience.

[msumoose]

The world record crappie was caught and is hanging at the Enid Lake (Mississippi) Fish Hatchery. 5+ pounds.

[CrappiePappy]

The world record crappie was caught and is hanging at the Enid Lake (Mississippi) Fish Hatchery. 5+ pounds.

Yep, 5lb 3oz and it was caught in 1957 !! It is, however, only 5oz heavier than the KY State Record Crappie (hybrid cross) caught in 2005 ... 3oz heavier than the SC record Black Crappie from 1957 & the Minn record Black Crappie from 1940 ... and 13oz less than the "supposed" 6lb Black Crappie from La in 1969 ... 2oz heavier than the SC White Crappie record of 1949 ... 4oz heavier than the OKla White Crappie record of 1991 ... & 3oz heavier than the Ga White Crappie record of 1984.

So, as you can see ... there are many other states that "can" produce World Record sized Crappie. And who knows how many "world record" Crappie were caught & never certified ??

... cp

[okhawg]

So, as you can see ... there are many other states that "can" produce World Record sized Crappie. And who knows how many "world record" Crappie were caught & never certified ??

... cp

My grandfather caught one that weighed 5 lb 6 oz according to the country store scale outside of Arkabutla Lake (in MS), used to have pictures of it, it was massive. Dad said Papa didn't want anything to do with the records, but his brother insisted on weighing it. Dad said Papa also caught at least 2 other big ones, one at a little over 4 and one about 4.5 lbs; though those were weighed on hand held scales.