01-01-2010, 09:49 PM
I have gone after crappie at EC numerous times and had alot of success. There are some larger fish in the 2lb plus range that are found most easily in the spring and fall. I know crappie are an illegal introduction, but the rainbows have gotten really sizeable with the abundance of crappie fry and I see the presence of crappie as a plus to to the food source. The DWR and avid slimer aficionados have another take on the subject altogether and more than 50,000 tiger trout were introduced into the reservoir last fall to knock down the population and they have done that more than efficiently. The crappie fishing has gotten really slow and not only is the panfish population taking a big hit but so is the population of stocked rainbows. I love catching tigers, but they are eating everything they can fit in their mouths and the whole lake is suffering for the catch rate. Rotenone is too expensive to use these days so the DWR resorts to other methods based on conjecture. Here's my conjecture. The tigers will prevail for a short time because they are sterile and if you want to catch them then you should use jigs and cut bait through the ice. The rainbow population will recover once the tiger population begins to regress. With an average of at least 100,000 eggs per adult female crappie, they will make a big comeback but it will take a few years. The big positive I can see is that the smallmouth population will be put in check and there will be larger fish showing up beginning this spring.
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