Fishing Forum

Well I dont know if it was just me or the guy I was fishing with but yesterday was really slow for us. 4 really nice perch a ton of crappies (3 inches) a few perch that were smaller than a Rapala and and some rapala sized smallies and oh yes HOT HOT HOT. My poor dog was cooking. Lots of boats in the morning but by afternoon almost all were gone. Slow fishing, hot weather, or both?? If anybody did good let me know . (so I can blame my partner)
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I think fishing slows down when the weather gets hot Mike. Can't be you!! []
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To be honest Strike is in the tank. I know there were some good perch taken this year but the Crappie are in my opinion gone. I think the F&G need to step in and shut off harvest on crappie. Ron
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I wouldn't worry about crappie in Strike too much. Adult crappies are on the downswing side of boom/bust cycle caused by a massive 2006 year class. Those fish ate most of the young crappie from the next couple of years and the 2006 crappies that are left are dying of old age. The large number of small ones are a good sign the population will normalize in a couple of years.

Plus summer right after the spawn is one of the hardest times to catch them, because they don't school as tightly as they do at other times of the year. They're scattered and suspended in deeper water.

I had some very nice days fishing for crappie at Strike back in April, especially at night. Caught over 60 one night, with a good dozen or so over 14".
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I agree with Ron! CJ SUCKS comparatively speaking!
OVER HARVEST once again!
If CJ had a 10 inch minimum on crappie and or a 25 per person limit, it would remain a great fishery!!
When every boat there kills every crappie over 6 inches, (we , us, you) cause this downfall!
Would you rather catch your 25 over ten inch or the 100 a day that are 3-6 inches?
ALL bodies of water should have size and-or qty limits on ALL FISH, not just bass and trout!
If a lake gets fish that are stunted then you post signs for people to catch & kill!
Hence the old saying! You get everything that you DON'T ask for!
This state needs to try something different no matter what it is! If it don't work we can always change it back to what it has been for 50 years!
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Once again, you're looking for simplistic answers to complicated issues. Crappie populations are affected by many different factors.

#1: Minimum size limits on crappie are not the answer for every body of water. There have been cases where minimum size limits had no effect on average size, or actually made crappie fishing worse due to a large number of fish not reaching harvestable size.

http://www.tn.gov/twra/fish/Reservoir/Re...appie.html

http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/publication...ts/552.pdf

http://pubstorage.sdstate.edu/wfs/337-F.pdf

#2: Since when does "every boat there kill every crappie over 6 inches"? Do some people keep crappie smaller than they should? Probably. But most of the people I've seen there realize there's not enough meat on a crappie under 10" to be worth the effort to clean them and throw them back.

#3: You act like every boat is a panfish sucking vacuum that slurps up every fish in its path. Not everyone catches a ton of fish every trip. Yeah, there are 100+ fish days, but those are rare, even in "good" years. A lot of people catch a few or get skunked because the weather isn't right, or they don't know where to fish, or they don't have the right bait or presentation.

Minimum size limits are only effective on bodies of water that have high populations of young panfish, fast growth and a lot of fishing pressure. I don't keep a lot of fish, so length and creel limits would not affect me. I would support them, IF there were evidence there was a problem caused by overharvest and they would be effective on a SPECIFIC body of water. Implementing them willy nilly can cause stunting, which is MUCH harder to fix than simply putting a minimum size limit or creel limit in place. Ask those southeastern guys with lakes and ponds full of 5" perch no one wants to bother fishing.
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Hence the reason I said the IDFG needs to try (something) different! Ok if you want to split hairs maybe not (all) boats are killing every crappie and perch they catch! Only 95 percent of them are doing it! Good for you if you are selective on the size & qty you take !
I witnessed over 100 boats in the narrows a couple summers ago and EVERY fish that ( I ) saw caught, went in a cooler or livewell!
CJ (can & will) produce crappie up to 18 inces but they sure as hell can't get that big when they get killed at half that size! And YES I have watched tons of people take home crappie in the 6-10 inch range!
If we protect at least SOME of them, there will always be fish to harvest for eating!!
As far as the research you included! I can show you 3 lakes in Arizona that produce crappie over 2 lbs and there is a reason for it!!! And it is awesome only harvesting fish over 15 inches that are at the end of their life cycle!
You said the following! Sounds EXACTLY like CJ to me!
(Minimum size limits are only effective on bodies of water that have high populations of young panfish, fast growth and a lot of fishing pressure. I don't keep a lot of fish, so length and creel limits would not affect me. I would support them, IF there were evidence there was a problem caused by overharvest and they would be effective on a SPECIFIC body of water!)
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While you have some great points, I do have to agree.
Fish sizes aren't anywhere near what they used to be, and there are a lot more people fishing, far more frequently, than in the (albeit distant) past.

Would a quantity limit be all that bad on crappie?
I mean, who really wants to clean more than 25 at a pop anyway.
Besides, if someone takes the wife & 2 kids fishing, then they still can have 100 fish to clean when they get home.

25 six inch fish isn't a huge amount of meat to collect, but (possibly in the future) 25 one pound fish would put a good pile in the freezer.

YES, there are a lot of factors to consider when IDFG sets restrictions. But they can't control the weather, and they can't stop the water flow, any more than they can increase the snowpack. That leaves them in control of what we harvest.
20 years ago I loved taking the family out and filling a 5 gallon bucket full of crappie.
Now, I look at them and wish they would play hard-to-get for a few more years, so they can grow up. Then I toss them back. Too much work for 1/4 of a fish-stick, in my opinion.
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I think the biggest reason for a limit on panfish is being overlooked here (COMMERCIAL FISHING) a daily limit and a total possession limit should slow them down a bit.
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Lots and lots of great big crappie up the river, the narrows just get over fished.
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[quote dtayboyz]Lots and lots of great big crappie up the river, the narrows just get over fished.[/quote]

no doubt, look elsewhere, there other places on that lake that have crappies and were not commercially fished back when it was good by the china men....... [fishon]
Matt
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[quote Duck-Slayer][quote dtayboyz]Lots and lots of great big crappie up the river, the narrows just get over fished.[/quote]

no doubt, look elsewhere, there other places on that lake that have crappies and were not commercially fished back when it was good by the china men.......
Matt[/quote]

Well....that didn't take long. The meat board at it's finest.

Probably not fair or appropriate to stereo type and /or attribute percieved issues with fish populations to a particular race.

I believe several folks in this thread have offered observations where they have observed "100's of boats" and "95%" of the boats as keeping everything they catch regardless of size.

I have been in the narrows when it was bumper boats several times over the years and only recall seeing less than 1% oof the boats where the occupants appeared to be from from the far east.
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+1
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