Are They mad at the crappie or just unconscious idiots!!!

[GRIZZ]

If your fishing deep and catching "sublegals" ( by the way I thought he was saying subtle-gals as well and didn't know what he was talking about) change to a larger lure like a 4 inch grub or a 3 inch with a larger jighead and hook. You will mainly catch bigger fish with it because the smaller ones can't get the larger hook in thier mouths. There are times I use a 3 inch grub with a small jighead and hammer them, but the dinks can still take a 3 incher.

[Drift_Wood]

If you poke a hole in the Bladder of any fish it dies. Dont poke a hole in them never. Do your homework guys. This is what the LSU Ag Department says about bladders this is on a red snapper but it dont matter all fish breathe the same way if it has gills.{Red snappers are a heavily regulated species with a relatively
large minimum size. Undersized fish must be released, often to the distress of fishermen. Many of the red snapper caught, especially from deeper waters, have their stomachs protruding from their mouths, forced there by the expansion of gases in the air bladder as the fish are brought to the surface. Most fishermen assume that all of the fish released in such condition will die. Research indicates that, unless another bigger fish eats them first, that 70-80% of these fish will recover and survive. Only one thing will cause 100% of them to die - well intended fishermen poking a hole in the stomach with a knife or other sharp object to "help the fish swim down." }

[GRIZZ]

Drift - your confusing the stomach and the air bladder. Hes right that you should never puncture a fishes stomach, but very careful use of syringe to release the air in a bladder will save many fish. Here is a good description. http://www.fishingworld.com/News/Rea...rtID=000002225

[Darryl Morris]

You beat me to the punch, Drift Wood. For example, 90% of the fish I catch and put in the livewell bang around desperately wanting to return to a 12-15' depth then give up and just float there alive. After a little time the fish right themselves and during the winter months can stay in the livewell for quite some time. It just takes a little time for them to release the pressure in their expanded airbladder. So, whether it's the livewell or the lake, they WILL adjust eventually. If they don't complete the adjustment before being eaten by another fish or bird, I still say they weren't wasted.

[Darryl Morris]

Airbladder, stomach, whatever, wherever, sticking a hole in any internal organ of a fish is not a good thing. Granted, there is a ton of material about it and so many say it's okay. But, let's just use a little common sense and think about it for a moment. Once the airbladder is punctured it will not have the ability to hold air until it heals, if it heals. Thus, the fish sinks toward the bottom, begins the process of filling the airbladder to give it natural buoyancy, eventually the air leaks into the body cavity, it keeps filling the bladder, the body cavity fills even more, the fish has no way to release it, floats to the top and dies, no chance of survival. Yeah, the bladder was relieved and the fish when down, but doing so you've only sealed the inevitable, whereas just releasing them, they've got a 50/50 chance. Nope, no hole poking in my boat, either float and live or float and be eaten, it's a win-win.

[sac-a-lait]

Hey David,

not to mention the large dolphins that follow some boats once they reach the fishing grounds. They will eat 100's of pounds if given the opportunity. The one's that have figured this out are the BIGGEST, FATTEST Flippers I have ever seen. Ole Flipper can shut a hole down in the Gulf. But he sure is smart. I can't really blame him for getting an easy meal.

[haugboss]

ok guys im opening myself for ridicule but this WORKS.

if you slap the fish into the water on its side fairly hard it works kind of like us doing a belly flop and forces the air out of their bladder

again it doesnt look to ethical on the water but ive never had it not work

al

[ceb]

I previously read this article on crappieusa.com. I hope that they wouldn't promote something that would eventually kill the dink anyways. Who knows?

http://www.crappieusa.com/library/Ar...Article_ID=355

ceb -

[Drift_Wood]

LOL I would like to know how many of you fisherman out there actually gonna start inserting Chest Tubes in the side of a live fish? My luck he would flop and I would wind up with the needle in me lol. I was talking about ppl just poking the bubble of stomach that comes out their mouth. And I think that most fishermen that I know thinks that. When you say pop something they are figuring that is what to pop. Anyways I hate needles, I'm gonna go with Darryl Sink or Swim lol.

[Darryl Morris]

Don't get me wrong gents. I'm a conservative conservationist and I want to be a good steward of our beautiful playground. But, if we all stop and think about it, there are more crappie die of old age than we could ever think about catching. That's no excuse for abusing them, of course.

A 10-12" female crappie will lay between 20-40,000 eggs. A 15-16" female will lay between 200-400,000 eggs. Even if only 1% survive from only one large female, that's more than just my annual catch. Then there is all the other females. We're talking about 100's of thousand of crappie if not millions each year, even if only 1% of the overall spawn survive. There are countless crappie pass each year who have never seen a boat or fisherperson and I'm certain that a few 100 or even 1000 or more dinks per season won't even impact the total population at all, depending on your habitat of course.

What we all should be more concerned about is other factors that can have a serious negative affect to the crappie's habitat, like low water diminishing spawning territory, over population of white bass species and inadequate structure and cover for crappie and baitfish. If you want to increase the crappie population in your home waters, put in the time and effort to add substantial cover and then maintain it year after year. Give them something to hide in and spawn around and before you know it the only thing that will be eating the crappie will be you.