Thread: Does MD need a tidal crappie fishery management plan

I totally agree with Capt. Mike and Tear em up, they are guys from two different waterways that fish alot and have a keen sense of whats going on in their areas and have seen how these fisheries have developed over alot of years.
Again any commercial method with a slot limit that kills most caught fish is a joke, and these methods should maybe be closely monitored and a limit of pounds be put on them and when reached close the commercial fishing like they do with tuna. I think most responsible commercial fishermen will agree with it.
We struggle down here to catch a keeper flounder much less a limit and I blame that on alot of years when the commercial guys had a size limit much smaller that ours, granted good management of marine fisheries requires co-operation of states which I think is kind of non existant for lots of speciess like flounder, but theres lessons to be learned for sure!
A tidal limit on crappie would be a good thing for sure for all fishermen!

Thanks for all your input so far. When my staff completes characterizing the commercial fishery for crappie I will share with you. It may be of interest to you to see how many guys are commercially harvesting crappie, what areas the harvest is coming from and by what gear type, how much is being harvested, etc. Unfortunately, we do not have data on the recreational fishery. Look forward to following the continued discussion. And, by the way i am jealous that I have not found a good crappie fishing spot like some of you have. Enjoy the weeks ahead - some good fishing ahead of us. Tom

I would say most crappie caught in nets were out of fyke nets I ve seen crappie and Bass in fykes , but in fykes the fish can be released unharmed unlike gill nets that damage the fish pretty bad.

Well the commercial guys I've seen (on the Potomac) catching bass/crappie were using haul seines and two boats. Of course they got slowed down a few years back, when their bass were turning up in markets in NY.
But ya' see 'em headin' out most everyday. But there are so few commercial fishermen plying their trade on the upper tidal Potomac, it appears to be a non-factor.

Maybe a river specific management program like they do in freshwater would be in order.
banghead
I'm curious if any of the true crappie fishermen have complained to DNR about commercial fishermen taking crappie or is it perhaps just somebody (anti watermen) wanting to get involved in something they know nothing about and trying to attract support?

Yea different areas need different rules sometimes like size limits , crappie sizes can be very different in different bodies of water. I would say its in pretty good shape all in all I wouldn't like to see much commercial crappie fishing though,and dont think a liberal creel limit would hurt . I know a man that keeps all he catches all the time and will hit 1 spot all winter and spring we make sure not to tell him where we go lol.

Originally Posted by ProGrizz

is it perhaps just somebody (anti watermen) wanting to get involved in something they know nothing about and trying to attract support?

I think we have a WINNER here!

I think that Tom's intentions are good. I has seen first hand commercial landings of crappie and white perch in the small Dorchester streams during the spring using Fyke (hoop) nets. The result of the commercial harvest from my humble viewpoint is that most crappie remaining in these upper streams are mostly 7 inch crappie. Not what I consider a creel or fillet size fish. I think some better management would potentially help this fisheries. I hope to learn more about this. Tom, you may also want to post this on the pier and surf website as I think they have an active group of crappie fisherman too.

Hello all, I am the SFAC Commissioner that brought up the initial questions about Crappie management in MD. Given the recent changes in Yellow Perch management, and the good that has come from it, some folks started asking a few questions about Crappie. A few CCA members wondered whether better management for Crappie might yield similar results as the YP. The members that pushed the most were both commercial and recreational anglers. Proper management will maximize the value of Crappie in MD and hopefully provide for the best use of the public resource.

It's great to see this discussion starting here. I hope all of you continue to provide input to Tom and his staff and get more involved with the fisheries management process in MD. I know you will find Tom to be very fair and transparent in everything he does.

I look forward to watching this discussion, and welcome any and all questions or comments you may have.

Dave Sikorski
CCAMD Sportfisheries Advisory Commissioner