15 inch crappie

[Slab Slayen]

Thanks for the advice. i appreciate it........

[Slab Slayen]

thanks for the advice. i appreciate it.........

[Fishorhunt]

There is a cove that I fish and always catch MUCH bigger crappie and some stretch into the 15" range. I catch these fish usually starting in Feb and EARLY in the morning before or just after day light. Once the sun gets up the big crappie seem to "peter out" and I start catching more average fish. This cove is know by many of the locals for holding tons of crappie and it's fished hard. I don't fish "with the crowd" when I enter this cove. I don't mind looking foolish as boat after boat passes me by on their way to the "sweet spots" because I've usually got several nice slabs in my boat by then. I don't know how many times people have idled by me and said "man you need to get back in there we caught 200 crappie yesterday and got 2 limits". I just smile and say "I don't like the crowds" and they go on. I would rather catch 20 big crappie and have 15, 2 lb keepers. Search out new spots and fish odd times because fish can be in places many over look. I actually found this spot by accident when I tossed out a line while rigging up my rods and drifting back to those "sweet spots". I had got there before day light to beat the crowd and it all just "clicked".

[feelay]

Come to MS, aren't many days that I don't catch a fish over 15". When it's on, catching a dozen or more over 15" is common. Our growing season is much longer than yours, so we have larger numbers of big fish.

[Lowellhturner]

On most "northern " waters the chances of a crappie reaching 15" is comparable to any given NFL team having a PERFECT season; statistically the odds are long. And anything over 15" into the 16"- 17" range is compareable to that same undefeated team going to AND WINNING the Super Bowl- gently put, the odds for any individual fish to make it into this size range are unfortuneately HIGHLY unlikely !

[Paul D.]

Gentlemen,
I respectfully disagree with the statements that northern waters will not produce many fish over 15". While my experience is limited to pursuing panfish only during cold water seasons (mainly thru the ice), and focusing on trophy class fish; most lakes and rivers we have target have yielded numerous fish over the 15" mark. Our efforts target lakes that are deep and clear, have a strong forage base, get little panfish pressure, and those shown to be in an "up" cycle. The key seems to be location and an affinity to suspend over deeper water.
While the size classes overlap, when we find schools of larger old fish, we try to stay on them. If only smaller fish are present, we keep searching be it another area of the water body, or another lake. We do pay very close attention to the lakes with higher numbers of 14 and 15"ers as they will be target waters the following year.Most of the trophy class fish have been iced in the early to mid evening hours as that is when we have the most success, therefore we tend to fish more at that time.
Catching them is straight forward, finding them consistently seems to be a bit more of a challenge. A typical evening trip usually produces between 12 - 20 fish over the 15" mark, most are returned to the water with a few 10-14" fish from the larger year class kept for the table. The key is to find lakes that are not heavily harvested, and fish areas other anglers rarely target due to ease of access/ distance. Much easier to do in northern waters where crappie are not a highly sought after fish as most anglers pursue top predictors. If you are truly serious about trophy class fish, get ahold of fisheries data, and learn to read and understand it, most lakes here in CT seem to run in 4 -7 year cycles. By keeping tabs on the lakes with more potential for larger size classes , we up our odds of fishing productive waters every season. Looking forward to drilling holes in a few weeks.
To back up my opinion:

[cbv1978]

A wise man once told me, location, location, location! I caught a bunch of 10-14 inch crappie on tops and when I started fishing old submerged stumps, no where near the tops, started catching bigger fish! Including this monster which was a personal best for me. About 16 inches and right at 2.5 lbs. Their were by themselves and not stacked up in tops, it was a great learning oppurtunity for me!

[brushnjigs]

Here in IN you need to look more towards the larger natural lakes for that size of fish. The weeds are a buffet table from the time they start swimming. With a constant food supply like that its like they grow up on steroids. There are several that do produce that size of fish and for the most part are never fished for.

[Slab Slayen]

paul d those are some huge slab sides! all i have to say is wow! thats some great advice and seems like you put allot of time and effort into your fishen. Its almost imposible to find a lake around me that doesnt have panfish pressure. I fish hot spots and lakes that my family has been fishen for years and because of time and other factors im unable to throw back fish as an attempt to grow bigger fish. The way i see it if i try to mannage fish size in a lake those 14inchers i throw back are going to be on another fishermans table by the end of season. Great advice though. Thanks

[SlabLapper4sure]

Maybe you need to modify your technique for a larger fish, like fishing larger jigs or cranks. Or even fishing earlier in the year when the sows r really big and first to turn on after winter. Those 15's don't get that size by eating everything that comes along! If you're catching 14's there r bigger fish there somewhere! You have to do your homework! Study topo's of the lake, find those big fish holes and sink some big fish attracters in those key areas away from the beaten path! Last year, I was catching the heck out of 12 inchers that r throwbacks in the Mississippi lakes that I fish, but I was able to locate a stump in a creek that had it's roots up off the bottom which allowed fish to get under the stump and I was able to catch several fish in the 3 pound range from that stump each time I went there. It was a big fish attracter. Try changing up some of what you're doing and it may help. Good luck! A 14 SHORE BEATS A 12 ANYDAY!!