15 inch crappies?

[doitall5000]

Clear lake calf.  You got to see these. It's just north of San Rosa.
https://youtu.be/GwdVIsYq_z0

[Freakyfisherman]

That used to be the norm in the early 90's at Pineview. After the tiger musky were put in there, those pigs were no more. I think it's because the musky only want to eat the bigger crappie. I have seen some that size come out of Deer Creek in the last few years. I actually mentioned that I have noticed the decline in bigger crappie to a coworker that is full time with the DNR. He thought that I had an interesting point of view. I think the division thought that the musky's would lower populations to make it a great panfish destination. My thoughts anyways...
Gabe

[JArner]

Those are some huge crappie. Thanks for sharing.

[a_bow_nut]

Have caught a few like that out of Powell over the years.

[Grayson Everett]

Nice.

[RockyRaab2]

It wasn't the muskies. The simple fact is that it takes years for a crappie to get that large, not many of them do - and people keep every one they catch.

[Fritzfishin]

I've got several in the 14" range outta quail creek but that was probably 6 years ago.

[TubeDude]

Lots of fond memories of Clear Lake.  Fished it a lot while I lived in Sacramento in the early 70s.  It was full of little silverside minnows and the crappies grew big and fast...and lots of them.  Also big largemouths and huge catfish.  The lake is ringed with homes right on the water and everybody has a small dock going out into the lake.  At night it was common to see lots of folks out on their docks, with lights, filling big garbage cans with crappies...big crappies.

Most lakes that have big crappies have plenty of food...year round...to grow them big and healthy.  One of my all-time favorite ponds was Patagonia Lake...right down near the border with Mexico in Arizona.  It was an hour drive from where I lived in Tucson and I fished it year round.  It was full of threadfin shad and they fed a variety of species...including the hefty crappies.  15" and 16" slabs were almost routine.  And they grew to about 21" and almost 4#.  Here are pics of a couple of 18 and 19 inch crappies I caught one chilly fall day...along with grundles of smaller ones down to about 14".


I have caught 15" crappies in Utah...from Powell, Willard, Pineview and even Deer Creek.  But anything over a footlong in Utah is a trophy.  Limited food supplies, erratic water levels, short growing season and other factors combine to keep our crappies generally smaller.

[doitall5000]

Lots of fond memories of Clear Lake.  Fished it a lot while I lived in Sacramento in the early 70s.  It was full of little silverside minnows and the crappies grew big and fast...and lots of them.  Also big largemouths and huge catfish.  The lake is ringed with homes right on the water and everybody has a small dock going out into the lake.  At night it was common to see lots of folks out on their docks, with lights, filling big garbage cans with crappies...big crappies.

Most lakes that have big crappies have plenty of food...year round...to grow them big and healthy.  One of my all-time favorite ponds was Patagonia Lake...right down near the border with Mexico in Arizona.  It was an hour drive from where I lived in Tucson and I fished it year round.  It was full of threadfin shad and they fed a variety of species...including the hefty crappies.  15" and 16" slabs were almost routine.  And they grew to about 21" and almost 4#.  Here are pics of a couple of 18 and 19 inch crappies I caught one chilly fall day...along with grundles of smaller ones down to about 14".


I have caught 15" crappies in Utah...from Powell, Willard, Pineview and even Deer Creek.  But anything over a footlong in Utah is a trophy.  Limited food supplies, erratic water levels, short growing season and other factors combine to keep our crappies generally smaller.

Does Patagonia still have those beauties? I was down that way two years ago. I never knew..  That's worth the drive.

[Springbuck1]

That used to be the norm in the early 90's at Pineview. 

Once again, it is so interesting how different fisherman have such different experiences.   To preface, I have never caught a 15" crappie anywhere.

When I first started hitting Pineview in college, about 1993, my experience was that the place was just lousy with underfed 7-9" crappies.  I remember catching a limit of 50 that arely filled the lower 1/4 of my bucket. (This is when I put in my apprenticeship hours learning to filet.) 

I remember the hubbub when they stocked the muskies, and I caught and released a lot of them at 18-22" on a big jointed Rapala I had.  Within a coupe of years, I was catching 20 fish limits of 11.5-12.5" crappies. We were all excited, because the fish were "as good as Willard Bay crappies, but easier to catch consistently.  

I wandered off after college to do other things, and didn't try PV again until I started ice-fishing, but I understand the cycles of both populations and sizes have been all over the place since.

[TubeDude]

Lots of fond memories of Clear Lake.  Fished it a lot while I lived in Sacramento in the early 70s.  It was full of little silverside minnows and the crappies grew big and fast...and lots of them.  Also big largemouths and huge catfish.  The lake is ringed with homes right on the water and everybody has a small dock going out into the lake.  At night it was common to see lots of folks out on their docks, with lights, filling big garbage cans with crappies...big crappies.

Most lakes that have big crappies have plenty of food...year round...to grow them big and healthy.  One of my all-time favorite ponds was Patagonia Lake...right down near the border with Mexico in Arizona.  It was an hour drive from where I lived in Tucson and I fished it year round.  It was full of threadfin shad and they fed a variety of species...including the hefty crappies.  15" and 16" slabs were almost routine.  And they grew to about 21" and almost 4#.  Here are pics of a couple of 18 and 19 inch crappies I caught one chilly fall day...along with grundles of smaller ones down to about 14".


I have caught 15" crappies in Utah...from Powell, Willard, Pineview and even Deer Creek.  But anything over a footlong in Utah is a trophy.  Limited food supplies, erratic water levels, short growing season and other factors combine to keep our crappies generally smaller.

Does Patagonia still have those beauties? I was down that way two years ago. I never knew..  That's worth the drive.

I couldn't guarantee it.  I haven't fished it for quite a few years.  But I did a non-fishing drive-by only about 3 years ago.  Judging by how much it has been developed and the increased fishing pressure it gets I suspect it would be more difficult to find that kind of fishing now.  However, there are some other southern Arizona Lakes that are known for producing big crappies...like Roosevelt and San Carlos.  But still, without reliable current intel I wouldn't make a special trip to either of them.  Powell is a lot closer and more reliable...if you can find the crappie schools.  Also, Quail Creek and Sand Hollow are known to kick out some slabs too.  Here are a couple more crappie porn pics from Arizona.

[packfish]

It wasn't the muskies. The simple fact is that it takes years for a crappie to get that large, not many of them do - and people keep every one they catch.

exactly and bluegills are in that same conversation

[richyd4u]

We catch 13-15" crappies at SH frequently...

[Freakyfisherman]

It wasn't the muskies. The simple fact is that it takes years for a crappie to get that large, not many of them do - and people keep every one they catch.

Almost 30 years later and no big crappie. I don't think it takes that long, or longer, to get them slabs that size.
Gabe

[fish_fear_me2]

Lots of fond memories of Clear Lake.  Fished it a lot while I lived in Sacramento in the early 70s.  It was full of little silverside minnows and the crappies grew big and fast...and lots of them.  Also big largemouths and huge catfish.  The lake is ringed with homes right on the water and everybody has a small dock going out into the lake.  At night it was common to see lots of folks out on their docks, with lights, filling big garbage cans with crappies...big crappies.

Most lakes that have big crappies have plenty of food...year round...to grow them big and healthy.  One of my all-time favorite ponds was Patagonia Lake...right down near the border with Mexico in Arizona.  It was an hour drive from where I lived in Tucson and I fished it year round.  It was full of threadfin shad and they fed a variety of species...including the hefty crappies.  15" and 16" slabs were almost routine.  And they grew to about 21" and almost 4#.  Here are pics of a couple of 18 and 19 inch crappies I caught one chilly fall day...along with grundles of smaller ones down to about 14".


I have caught 15" crappies in Utah...from Powell, Willard, Pineview and even Deer Creek.  But anything over a footlong in Utah is a trophy.  Limited food supplies, erratic water levels, short growing season and other factors combine to keep our crappies generally smaller.

Does Patagonia still have those beauties? I was down that way two years ago. I never knew..  That's worth the drive.

I have cauht a few 14 inch crappie at willard. A few 16 inchers in powell years ago but never anything the size Pat is showing. If you know Pat he isnt a little feller. Them crappie he be holdin are huge.

[Anglinarcher]

I got a 19-3/8" in Washington State a few years ago, small perch were the main food source and it was a weedy lake. Populations were low. Water levels are stable during the summer and only dropped to reduce shore weeds during the winter.

Roosevelt in AZ kicked out some true 4# in the middle 80's after the dam was raised and new trees were covered, shad were the main food source but shiners were also in the lake. Populations were low. Water levels in those years were fairly stable.

In Pueblo reservoir in Colorado 12 to 15" were common in the 80's. This lake was new, filling, full of submerged trees and shad. As a new lake, populations were low. Water levels in those days were rising.

I really think that the key is a ready food source, plenty of cover, and limited populations. Pineview has no "minnow" species except small perch and small crappie. It has no, and I mean NO cover, except at high water. As for limited populations, well we know that is not true.

We do see some larger crappie show up in PV, and I saw some measured 15" last winter, but ....... I think they all went home with a fisherman.

Tough to manage fish when water is not stable, you have no cover, and food is in high demand. A few get big, most stay small. I think the Tiger Muskie are one link to reduce the extreme populations, but the perch are consuming more food than the crappie IMHO. Sterile Walleye would do a great service to PV IMHO. Wipers would help, but they would also consume Crappie while Perch are a Walleye's preferred food and on the bottom like Walleye like. I am shocked the SMB are not reducing the perch, but I think the falling spring water impacts the SMB spawning potential.

I think, I think, ...... but who knows for sure.

[Springbuck1]

Hilarious! I fished Pueblo Rez all though the early 80's when I lived down there. My dad likes fishing but doesn't do it enough to really get good and figure it all out, and I was 10-13. We never caught a crappie there because I barely knew what a crappie was and we didn't know wat we were doing.

Sure caught some great bluegills and smallmouth out of there, though.

[Anglinarcher]

Hilarious!  I fished Pueblo Rez all though the early 80's when I lived down there.  My dad likes fishing but doesn't do it enough to really get good and figure it all out, and I was 10-13.  We never caught a crappie there because I barely knew what a crappie was and we didn't know wat we were doing.

Sure caught some great bluegills and smallmouth out of there, though.

Ya, the crappie were deep into the cottonwood tree tops that stuck up.  We would boat into the tops, tie off, and vertically fish.

The SMB were everywhere, some nice.  Some good LMB in the backs of the bays as well.

Walleye were king in those days, lots and lots of great walleye.