Thread: Past Due Time For Change

Sardis crappie need help!! Go back to 12" rule!! Have 10 be your limit!! Have 20 be the boat limit!!! It's sad and shame on the folks in charge for not doing something before march this year. Now if the plan was to reduce the fish population by 50% then they done a good job.

I agree. The 11" rule has been a disaster, unless you're getting paid for numbers.

I'm just not seeing many short fish either. That's gonna be a real problem in the NEAR future.

To much internet.

Lol. Been saying this for four years , but I'm an idiot. Reap what you sow.

so where do you guys feel the 11 and under fish are going? fish spawn every year. whether a good or bad spawn. i agree with 12". dont understand the change to 11". but 1" does not change the number of fry hatched every year to a large degree i would think.

Same old same old, the 11 inch rule is not the dam nation of the Sardis crappie population. Pressure that the lake gets it needs an OUTSTANDING spawn year in year out to produce the numbers most have got used to. Folks need to make up their minds, the season before folks were whing about all the just under 12 inch fish but by the change was made it had no effect as those fish were over 12 by yhen. Be interesting to see what the new regs bring, they will be proposed in the May meeting of the commision, I plan on being there.

Part of their reasoning for lowering the length limit was because they realized they had a couple of years of bad spawns. They knew there wouldn't be a large number of 12"+ crappie for a couple of years. I feel that they were trying to appease everyone by making a larger number of fish legal to keep. In essence, they kicked the can down the road for a couple of years, gambling on good spawns to make up for it. The gamble didn't pay off. All of these lakes go through up and down cycles. Sardis has been too good for too long and is over due for a down cycle. It may take a year or two or three to come back gang busters, but it will come back!!! Good fishermen can still find good fish.

Iam just saying they should have done something before this year got started. The size needs to increase and the catch needs to decrease. That would help hands down. A lot of folks won't be back next year that will help also. I agree good fishermen catch good fish you have to adapt with whats going on. I've put out close to 60 beds this year just to keep up with high water levels.

To much water this year fish scattered before every creek channel full of fish now lot of 2' deep water

big water means good spawn to me

Hard to slaughter them with the lake fills up . Some will have to eat those crappie that have been in the freezer "three " years .