I do not know about on crappies, but in one of our local lakes we caught bass that had tags on them for 20 years. This particular lake is on national forest and is strictly managed. It is catch and release only. No motors. No live bait. And a half mile walk to the lake. The feds took over the lake in the early 80s and tagged a bunch of bass. They only tagged for a couple years. We were still catching tagged fish in 2003, 2004. Can't say I have seen any since then.
It is not about the equipment you have to use,
It is about how you use the equipment you have. :D