Thread: Crappie size limit

Nice info Team9, where did you find it? Just curious...

Originally Posted by cubswin

My list may be wrong on the records. I was looking more at the states that crappie have traditionally been popular in. I haven't gone to every states page and double checked the list I'm using, so it may in fact be wrong.

Alabama-4lbs 5 oz
Arizona 4lbs 10 oz
Arkansas 4lbs 9 oz
Indiana 4lbs 11 oz
Georgia 4lbs 4 oz
Illinois 4lbs 8 oz
Iowa 4lbs 9 oz
Kansas 4lbs 10 oz
KY 4lbs 14 oz
Mi 4lbs 1.92 oz
Minnesota 5lbs
Mississippi 4lbs 4oz
Missouri 5lbs
Ohio 4lbs 8oz
oklahoma 4lbs 10 oz
Wisconsin 4lbs 8oz
Virgina 4lbs 10oz
Tennessee 4lbs 4oz
Texas 4.56 lbs

I see your point cubswin, but I guess I'm looking at it in a couple different ways. The above list is for 19 states, meaning there are 31 states not included (>60% of the records), so it seems selective. The other point is that while all those are less than a pound different (5lb-4.1lb), that's still almost 20% variation. Think in terms of if two guys were standing next to each other, one 6'0" and the other 4'10". You wouldn't say they are about the same height, yet they are less than 20% apart in "length".

Originally Posted by cubswin

Wonder why Brookville is so short, would think with its location mid state it would be higher. Does get a high amount of pressure though.

Latitude really has very little to do with age difference. Latitude to some degree controls the length of the growing season, but isn't correlated to length of lifespan in that short of distance. The studies that I've seen actually tend to show the reverse, that fish to the north live longer, but fish to the south grow faster. There is even one study that suggests crappie stop growing in some southern waters when water temps get too warm, putting on most of their length in the spring and fall.

Originally Posted by jpdawg

Nice info Team9, where did you find it? Just curious...

I've got state fishery research data on various lakes and reservoirs going back close to 30 years in some cases. They've started to put a lot of it online now, but it's been kind of sporadic. I also have unlimited access to several national fisheries research journals.

-T9

Thanks.

I haven't seen anyone weigh in on fishing pressure now vs. 40 - 50 years ago and the amount of the resource removed from the enviroment now with that pressure. Also the knowledge base is much more widespread than in the past. That said I believe the more knowlageable the fisherperson is the more selective they are in harvesting the resource. Thoughts.

im betting the harvest of today and yesteryear are about the same. there wasnt much catch n release back in the day like there is now. im betting it evens out. that being said, on the other hand with social media, the word spreads faster on the hot bites. and fish harvesters are the ones that exploit that the most. i have seen the internet ruin three different bodies of water in this area! same results of yesteryear's "tackle shop gossip" but it dont take near as long. another thought that pops to mind is unemployment. the more folks out of work, the more you see out on the water. this i noticed years ago when this economy went south. i used to see maybe a handful of guys out, in midweek on the ice, now its 3 times that many. those folks will be feeding the family too in some cases.

that question would make a great new thread "foolfishin". lots of variables to think about!

I din't spend much time fishing lakes in the 70's but I remember going to Cat and not having a problem catching several LM over 5 lb and a number of nice crappie throwing small cranks without much compitition from other boats. From the early 80's until around 2005 I didn't fish, too busy keeping bills paid, it was kind of a rude reintroduction to something I really enjoy with the additional watercraft. It could also be funky memories, seems to be more of those as the years go by.

A lot of comments about fishermen keeping small sized crappie, RiverScum and I have pulled a few crappie into the boat in our times. but always thought about the conservation aspect of our fisheries today and our children's fisheries tomorrow. I believe it all falls back on the integrity of the individual fishermen. Just my 2cents

Every law enforcement officer I know says not to take the law into your own hands. I think citizens arrest is callling law enforcement if you see a violation. There will always be cheaters and thiefs.