Thread: Is Clinton fished out of slab crappie

I'm starting to think most of the slabs are fished out of Clinton.
I fished from Friday evening until noon Sunday catching only 5 barely 10" crappie out of over probably 200 shorts.
Every one I talked to on the lake was reporting the same results, NO SLABS.
Have the slabs been over harvested or just relocated to different parts of the lake?
I've also noticed the lack of shad schools.

What size do you consider to be a slab?

If the law continues to allow all the 7-10" crappie and the 11-15" walleye to be harvested there won't be any quality fish left. Personally saw guy cleaning walleye at the cleaning station last week cutting the head and tails off walleye and they fit in a ziplock sandwich bag.

Originally Posted by haugboss

If the law continues to allow all the 7-10" crappie and the 11-15" walleye to be harvested there won't be any quality fish left. Personally saw guy cleaning walleye at the cleaning station last week cutting the head and tails off walleye and they fit in a ziplock sandwich bag.

by the buckets full at hd fishes and honest fisherman don't stand a chance

If what you're doing isn't producing the desired results, then change tactics. I know I'm just as guilty at times Adaptability is a must for success.

Most of our laws are sportsman mandated, that is to appease a few who pursue those changes. Unfortunately, most sportsman will not "get involved" to stop these violators, which just leads to more and more useless laws. If us sportsman continue our ways our outdoors will become limited to "store hours" with limited access and checkpoints to ensure that laws aren't being broken. In short, if we don't call for an LEO, IMO we become just as guilty as the violators. It's a resource we all share, what our "ante" is in the game is pointless, we upgrade to benefit ourselves, not to buy more liberty than others. Have a great day and get some bend in that rod.

There are still nice fish in Clinton. A lot of them are in a transition period from the spawn and the fishing for them will get better soon. Summer patterns will begin shortly and those fish will magically appear. Everyone makes a good point about what is a slab and who is responsible for reporting SUSPECTED violations. It will never be a eutopia for all of us. I did not see the fish Al did as I was busy with the boat but trust his judgement. In my opinion the length and creel limit on walleye needs changed. If you cut the head and tail off a 15 inch fish you could very well end up with a 10 or 11 inch piece of meat. If there are that many violations there is no way law enforcement can keep up and who wants to go to jail for an argument escalating over short fish and that is what will happen when you call out these idiots. How does one chastise crappie keepers with short fish when many people load their freezers with well over possession limits thru out winter and the spawn Unless you are selling them or giving them away, in my opinion no need to rape a resource just because you can. Many things wrong with the crappie system but it is the best we have till something better comes to the front.

I call any crappie 11+ a slab. Thanks for the input guys going to try Rock Creek next weekend if mother nature lets me.
Is the spawn over?

CD I would have to say the main spawn Is done but there are still same late spawners out there problem being they are mostly the smaller fish now. With these lake temps heating up I would at least start checking the summer patterns out. Some of the early spawners are starting to show up in those spots. I would guess the main spawners will be still resting up and scattered but wont be long and they will be looking for the shad hatches.

What do you mean by the summer patterns? I usually try for catfish and walleyes during the summer, but have done good at night with a floating headlight to draw the shad into me then the slabs will be there too.

No problem here, slabs still coming out of Clinton along with lots of wiper and a few eyes. We ran into scotty at the cleaning station the other night. Great to see you again scotty!