I thought I would let everyone know how the crappie trap netting went on Smithville Lake this fall – pre and post regulation change.
Smithville Lake Crappie Regulation Change went into effect March 1st, 2019. The daily limit of (30) crappie may not include more that fifteen (15) fish more than 9" in total length.
If you look at the graphs, you will see that our catch rates of crappie were similar from 2018 to 2019. We added a few nets and sampled 262 more fish than last year. Our sample this year consisted of 55% black crappie to 45% white crappie.
Black Crappie - There was a significant shift in the size structure this year. Historic data dating back to 1990 shows that on average only 2% of the black crappie ever reached 9”. This year that number jumped to 39% over 9" !! Take a look at the graphs and you can see that shift from 2018 to 2019. The black crappie size structure peak shifted 1.5” this year.
White Crappie - The white crappie size structure is also improving. We foundthat 85% are over 9" and 55% are over 10”. We also see a significant increase of fish over 12”.
The new regulation is looking promising. We continue to encourage anglers that want to keep fish under 9" to keep the Black Crappie and throw back the small White Crappie. Reducing the black crappie population should increase the growth rates of both white and black crappie.
We geta lot of good information from our lakes on the reports on Crappie.com so please keep them coming. If anyone has any questions about Smithville, I wouldbe more than happy to try and answer them for you.