Ballooning Crappie School

[bella]

Against the law here

[bobberdown]

Since on Toledo Bend starting with Dec. 1st. through Feb. you can't throw back any crappie it would be a problem for the game wardens I am sure..

If your crappie is 4" long do you have to add it to your limit?? Is there a population problem on Toledo Bend? On a good day you might have a limit of 3" in an hour.

[DENNIS BOWERS]

I've heard both methods work-both illegal here.

[FishCrazy]

I wonder why some places find it necessary to pass a law against it. Not much different than a fish finder the way I see it. I never tried it but dont see why it wouldnt work. I would probably tie it to the outcast crappie with my luck. Dont know if its againse the law in North Carolina.

[Jeff Schiller]

Bobberdown, Yes, you must keep your first 25 (or daily bag limit which I believe is higher on Toledo Bend) that you catch. No matter the size.

Reason being that the fish are generally caught so deep in the colder water that they will most likely die if they are released after being caught.

[bobberdown]

Has anyone ever taught the anglers how to bleed the air bladder on crappie and bass caught in deep water. A small hypodermic with no plunger, push the needle into the fish about 1/4 way between the dorsal fin and stomach. Then they can get back down without danger. The reason they die is the bends from being brought to the surface to quick.
If this technique is used quickly after the fish is landed 98% of the fish will survive. I know, I Know to educate the public on a technique like this is almost imposable. But it's a shame to make anglers take a fish that they can't use. I can not imagine bring home 25 3" crappie to clean and eat. When I know the could grow to 13" if I knew how to keep them alive by using this technique. But the law is the law.

[Jerry Blake]

In Arkansas (and probably many other states) it's illegal to waste game fish of any size so I would think that continuing to catch and release fish from deep water with fatal injuries could be considered illegal.

Of course where there are minimum length limits you're somewhat in a "catch 22" situation.
However, common sense would dictate doing something different if you are continually catching and fatally injuring undersize fish whether they are just smaller than you want to keep or under the legal length limit.

Several alternatives come to mind such as changing depth (shallower to reduce the risk of injuring caught fish or deeper to catch bigger fish), using larger bait, changing location on the lake or even fishing a different lake.

The technique of puncturing a fish's distended air bladder has been discussed here in the past and there are those that think it works well and those that are skeptical.

Fish that are brought up too fast from too deep of water likely have other injuries besides a distended air bladder. We know they don't survive because we see them floating on the water. But, how do we know whether or not a fish survives after being stabbed with a needle?

Once the air bladder is punctured the fish will likely go to the bottom of the lake and die there rather than on the surface.

If it doesn't die right away from the trauma of being pulled to the surface and then dropped to the bottom it certainly will be susceptible to infection from having it's air bladder flooded with lake water.

Even if the air bladder miraculously seals itself at the exact moment that just enough pressure is released to prevent the air bladder from being flooded with lake water the entrance wound would be subject to infection.

I'm not convinced the procedure does anything more than make the angler feel better because he/she doesn't see the injured fish struggling on the surface.

Fortunately we don’t have to worry too much about the problem here. We seldom catch crappie over 25-feet deep and since we don’t have a minimum length limit on the lakes I fish we can pick up a fish we’ve tried to release if we see it isn’t going to make it.