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I am dying to see this ear bone example. I looked for one yesterday while cleaning my catch. Which by the way I released all the females & 2 over 14"s. That is the way I role everyone. Its like deer hunting, keep shootin the 3 yr old 8 pts & youll never get a chance at a 5 yr old 10 pt in the 150's. I release anything over 14", cause next year I want that 17" 3 Lber or even bigger.
You are right on! The more 14" fish released then them more 15" fish for next year! Just like deer hunting. Our weatherman called for thunderstorms all weekend, sever, of course I did not get one at MY house but my buddy did at his so maybe staying home was the right choice. Next weekend I am going I hope.
I can tell you where to look for the ear bone (that is what I call it, I think it is actually a cocklia (sp) keeps the fish balance)
hold the fish belly up, with a pair of dikes, snip the place joining the left and right gills and bend the fish open, you will see a bones in a Vee on the spine, now snip the first vertibra and keep bending, you should see a bump, carefully snip open this bump and remove 2 little white disk (tweezers are good for this). Look at these disk through a magnifying glass and you can count the rings.
Like I said in my post the fish size is not a real indication of age, my 5 year old crappie was only 9" long. It was a thick fish so our 9" fish make good filets.