Took Out A Few Crappie Munchers This Morning

[Jerry Blake]

I've heard the same story over and over about our man-made reservoirs and some natural lakes too. It usually goes something like, "Back in the day you could catch coolers full of huge slabs but people are catching too many fish (or stripers are eating all the fish) and now we can't catch them like we used to".

I'm convinced that 90% of the time it's not over-harvesting or other fish eating crappie but a decline in habitat that's the problem. When reservoirs are built there are plenty of bushes, trees and other cover that are inundated as the lake fills. But, after a few years all that cover rots out. I think our Game and Fish Biologists here in Arkansas have come to realize that spending time and money on habitat is at least as important as stocking programs.

Crappie are very prolific but without adequate habitat most of their "work" goes to waste. And, it's not just about numbers. Crappie (and bass and bream) that have adequate habitat where they can "hang-out" in a secure environment and eat all the time are going to grow faster, be healthier and get bigger than crappie that are constantly having to look for a place to hide and something to eat.

"Adequate habitat" means quality cover at all depths to accommodate crappie in all stages of their life cycle and their seasonal migration patterns as well as lake level fluctuations.

["G"]

I agree Jerry!

[bugman]

Couldn't agree more.

[burdawg]

"Adequate habitat" means quality cover at all depths to accommodate crappie in all stages of their life cycle and their seasonal migration patterns as well as lake level fluctuations.[/QUOTE]

Jerry, I agree and to illustrate the point even further you only need to look at the Santee Cooper lakes here in SC. They decided to get rid of the hydrilla and not only got rid of the ducks but over the past 10 years the fisheries (catfish, striper, largemouth, crappie) all have suffered. I'm no marine biologist but they can't blame the fishing guides or fishermen, their habits didn't change...The only thing that changed was the elimination of habitat.

[Shine Runner]

I agree habitat directly relates to all species of a lake. Young have to survive to sustain any give population. The lake I was referring to has NO shortage of habitat. Lots of man-made habitat has been placed over several years. There is a literal forest under the water from one end to the other in this lake. Not just standing trees, but huge brush piles & log jams from the 1994 flood. If anything is lacking, I would say weed growth other than patches hear and there along the banks. But then there never has been on this lake.

The quotes about back in the day and all that has merit on some lakes and I agree that over harvest and under management affect a lakes balance. My statement about the stripers is because until they were introduced to this lake, there was a very substantial population of largemouth bass, black crappie, shad, all the other normal sunfish, channel catfish, and flathead catfish. We now have a lesser population of largemouth and black crappie. On the other hand, we do have a increasing population of white crappie. But the white crappie seem to be very thin for their length. I have caught and seen many white crappie 14-16" long that weighed 1.25lbs-1.5lbs. Those fish should have been much closer to 2lbs. I have talked with several bass tournament anglers over the past few years, and they feel the largemouth population is not as strong as previous years. Weight seems more of a concern and not the numbers for them. We have asked numerous times for fisheries biologist to look into what can be done to improve the lake overall. We have proposed length limits after comparing very similar lakes in neighboring states that have successfully produced healthy populations of large crappie. To my knowledge, nothing has been implemented or even considered for this lake or GA in general. I can't get a straight answer or find anywhere on-line when the last creel study or study of any kind was done on this lake. I know they have had serious budget cuts, and this is not a top of the list priority for them.

I am not saying this lake is void of black crappie, just a significant change for the worse. I would like to believe the stripers do not negatively affect other game fish populations in this lake. It just don't add up, here anyway.

[Jerry Blake]

I agree habitat directly relates to all species of a lake. Young have to survive to sustain any give population. The lake I was referring to has NO shortage of habitat. Lots of man-made habitat has been placed over several years. There is a literal forest under the water from one end to the other in this lake. Not just standing trees, but huge brush piles & log jams from the 1994 flood. If anything is lacking, I would say weed growth other than patches hear and there along the banks. But then there never has been on this lake.

The quotes about back in the day and all that has merit on some lakes and I agree that over harvest and under management affect a lakes balance. My statement about the stripers is because until they were introduced to this lake, there was a very substantial population of largemouth bass, black crappie, shad, all the other normal sunfish, channel catfish, and flathead catfish. We now have a lesser population of largemouth and black crappie. On the other hand, we do have a increasing population of white crappie. But the white crappie seem to be very thin for their length. I have caught and seen many white crappie 14-16" long that weighed 1.25lbs-1.5lbs. Those fish should have been much closer to 2lbs. I have talked with several bass tournament anglers over the past few years, and they feel the largemouth population is not as strong as previous years. Weight seems more of a concern and not the numbers for them. We have asked numerous times for fisheries biologist to look into what can be done to improve the lake overall. We have proposed length limits after comparing very similar lakes in neighboring states that have successfully produced healthy populations of large crappie. To my knowledge, nothing has been implemented or even considered for this lake or GA in general. I can't get a straight answer or find anywhere on-line when the last creel study or study of any kind was done on this lake. I know they have had serious budget cuts, and this is not a top of the list priority for them.

I am not saying this lake is void of black crappie, just a significant change for the worse. I would like to believe the stripers do not negatively affect other game fish populations in this lake. It just don't add up, here anyway.

If so many stripers were stocked (or they are reproducing) that they are eating up all the shad then you definitily have a problem. Without an adequate food source, all species are going to suffer no matter how much habitat they have. Minimum length limits could make the situation even worse. Removing as many foragers as possible until the forage equals the demand would be more helpful in that situation.

We're fortunate that we don't have any significant shad die-offs on Lake Greeson. We don't have a lot of gizzard shad but plenty of threadfin shad, which don't grow as fast or get as big and make excellent crappie chow. But, the threadfin are the ones that die off if the water temps get in the low 40s and upper 30s. We see huge schools of shad everywhere on the lake and see 1 to 1.5-inch size year around.

We took out a few more stripers this morning along with some green carp:

[Micropterus salmoides]

keep smaller fish!