Thread: Crappie numbers

Many biologists prefer not to have crappie in smaller lakes. They very frequently become too numerous and stunted. Unless there is something limiting their reproduction in those lakes, they will increase in number naturally. I have one small lake I manage for large bluegill and it has very high numbers of small bass, by design, and they keep the crappie population to a bare minimum. The lake is also very steep sided with limited spawning areas. I consider it a blessing to not have a growing crappie population there. Hopefully some of the guys on here can help you find a decent crappie lake nearby. Or you can give Mike Reed or Paul Cieslewicz (pronounced sis-lev-itch) a call at the Cape Girardeau Office and they can point you in the right direction for your area. The number is 573-290-5730. Good Luck!

I fish a couple of Conservation lakes in the under 200 acre size. I try to keep a limit every time if I can find em. That means keeping some as small as 7", but as it was said above, if there is a 30 limit with no size restriction... they want you to keep them.

Harrisonville lake is horrible for crappie. Tons of em. One day I dipped a double jig rig in a clump of trees, caught 70 consecutive crappie, only five were worth cleaning. Talk about stunted and starving...
I'd probably have done a service by pinching their little head and letting the turtles have em.

If you fish a stunted lake and most fish are only 6-7 inches, what do you do with 30 6" crappie?

Originally Posted by LSL Angler

If you fish a stunted lake and most fish are only 6-7 inches, what do you do with 30 6" crappie?

Use them for fertilizer

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6" crappie make nice little appetizer size fillets, you can boil the bones for fish stock, we use it in soups with an Asian flavor, and boil the meat and make fish cakes.

Both good suggestions. I've buried in my garden, and over Christmas, my kids got me a fish cookbook that talked about making stock and fish cakes, etc. Haven't tried that yet, but...