11-16-2005, 07:00 PM
[cool][#0000ff]Yeah, there are a lot of states where Crappies are the number one fish species for many anglers...year 'round. They are plentiful, easy to catch, they get big and they are primo on the table.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The available food base is usually the key to crappie success. There has to be an abundance of small minnows throughout the year, and a long growing season, for crappies to get much over 12". Most of the best crappie lakes I have fished have had good numbers of threadfin shad. And, even in those lakes there will be cycles. When the shad are plentiful, there are one or two year classes of crappies that grow big. When the shad are down, the crappies are fewer and smaller.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I had two years in a row on Patagonia Lake, in southern Arizona, when a 16" crappie was about average...with quite a few going to the 19" mark. They are about 3# at that size. My biggest weighed right at 3.5# and I saw a pro come in with a whole cooler full of crappies between 3 and 4 pounds, with one just over 4#. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Down there you can use live bait and the serious big fish guys are good with a cast net. I got most of mine on plastics, but also caught some respectable ones on shad-imitating hardbaits...like the Fat Raps. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff] One thing that you won't get many arguments on is that as long as the fish are big enough to fillet, they are great on the table. Their flesh is not quite as firm as some of the other "spiny rays", but it is mild and tasty. Bring on them hush puppies.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The available food base is usually the key to crappie success. There has to be an abundance of small minnows throughout the year, and a long growing season, for crappies to get much over 12". Most of the best crappie lakes I have fished have had good numbers of threadfin shad. And, even in those lakes there will be cycles. When the shad are plentiful, there are one or two year classes of crappies that grow big. When the shad are down, the crappies are fewer and smaller.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I had two years in a row on Patagonia Lake, in southern Arizona, when a 16" crappie was about average...with quite a few going to the 19" mark. They are about 3# at that size. My biggest weighed right at 3.5# and I saw a pro come in with a whole cooler full of crappies between 3 and 4 pounds, with one just over 4#. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Down there you can use live bait and the serious big fish guys are good with a cast net. I got most of mine on plastics, but also caught some respectable ones on shad-imitating hardbaits...like the Fat Raps. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff] One thing that you won't get many arguments on is that as long as the fish are big enough to fillet, they are great on the table. Their flesh is not quite as firm as some of the other "spiny rays", but it is mild and tasty. Bring on them hush puppies.[/#0000ff]
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