Meat Fishing versus Tournament Fishing By Bernard Williams

I was raised crappie fishing; we did it for table fare. It was a way of life for us during those years. Back then my goal for the day was to catch as many as I could, size didn’t matter; we ate them small, medium and large. All they had to have was have “scales and tails”. If they bit our hook we took them for a ride, their next swim for them would be in Crisco.

Fast forward to now, I’m a competitive crappie fisherman. What that means is I only want the 7 biggest fish I can find and I’ll very careful to keep them alive. I’ve learned that big fish don’t taste nearly as good as a 12.5” to 13.5” crappie. The filets are the perfect size for frying and eating.

Now speaking of eating them, at one time I loved eating crappie; they were my favorite, hands down. My dad and I would fish the Barnett Spillway after spring rains and catch limits for days. In those days the limit was 50 fish per person. I can remember going fishing with him and my mom for 4 days straight. We caught the limit each day, 150 fish. We kept them on ice for 4 days and it was my job to clean them on the 5^th day. That’s right, I cleaned nearly 600 crappie. It took nearly a whole day; when I finished cleaning and looked in that garbage can with that many heads and guts, it began nearly impossible to shallow them again. I completely lost my appetite for eating crappie.

I can still eat a couple of filets once in a while but I prefer my fish baked. The ones I do keep I give away. My pastor and relatives get most of them. Un-Cleaned that is. Sometimes I will clean a few and cook them for my buddies hanging out at the country club, not too often.

Now I’ve notice a few of my friends that compete in tournaments catch and keep all the fish they can during practice. Then on tournament day I hear them say, “I caught a limit here on yesterday and now I can’t get a bite.” Well my friend, you need to drop a hook in your cooler.

Let me tell you about a conversation I had with my partner, Don Terry of Jackson, MS. We were fishing an MCC tournament on pier at Eagle Lake one year. This is a pier we had found a weekend or two before the tournament that was loaded with fish, big fish.

On tournament day we went straight to it and started fishing. We fished it for about 4 hours and only had a few 10” fish. Don says, “I know these fish are her, I caught at least a 100 fish right here last week.” Well I’m not going to repeat what I said, we have children in the house, but I assure you it was not good. Don is a professional bass fisherman but he didn’t take crappie tournament fishing with the same concept. He does now, once we find a pattern we back off.

What I’m trying to say is you can’t be both a “Meat Hunter and a Tournament Fisherman.” You’ve got to stop one or the other. Don’t get me wrong, it’s ok to keep fish to eat, but you can’t weigh the ones you put in the cooler. I know you’re saying, crappie lay 100,000+ eggs during the spawn. But just guess how many of those make it to 2 pounds, a very, very small percentage.

Take a from tournament bass fishermen; they cut their hooks off during practice. They only want to know the location of their tournament fish. If you want to be successful at crappie tournament fishing, you’ve got to leave them alone once you find them. Then go back and hope and pray they’re in that same location or close by.

The crappie species need to be protected; they don’t replenish themselves like they once did. With all the new electronics used by today’s fishermen, there’s no way for fish to hide. I’ve taken the attitude that I only keep what I want to eat or clean that day. Since I rarely eat them I keep very few to give away. If you’re calling yourself a tournament crappie fisherman, you’ve got to think like a professional bass fisherman; find your fish, wait for tournament day to catch what you need for a winning stringer and keep them alive to be released. BW - Magnolia Crappie Club Outdoor Writer