Minimum size for Crappie?

[sam_fisherman]

My family owns a large 50 acre lake located in Southern Illinois between the Missippi River & Horseshoe Lake. The lake was created 10 yrs. ago when the levy broke on the river. The lake is very deep in alot of spots. Approx. 25 ft. We have been catching alot of Crappie in this lake recently. 75 the last two days. Alot of them small but full of eggs. What should be the minimum size limit we should impose upon ourselves to increase the overall size of the fish in future years?

 

[rpeeples]

Re: Minimum size for Crappie?

Since it is a privately owned lake you should be able to keep whatever size and number you want to. In a smaller lake or pond crappie will over run it and will eventually be stunted. I would catch and keep as many as I could eat or have room in the freezer for. Also, I would fish it all year long, or at least until it gets too cold.<br /><br />If you think you have a problem with too many crappie and stunted growth, get a few people together and have a crappie rodeo of some kind...

 

[sam_fisherman]

Re: Minimum size for Crappie?

So you are saying that you believe that a lake of this size the size and number of crappie that you catch will not affect the size of the fish in the future.

 

[ebbtide176]

Re: Minimum size for Crappie?

sam, if i were you(since this is your private pond), i'd call the local DNR, and ask if they could sched a date/time to come out and look it over. they actually like educating pond owners and might give you some tips to make that huge pond a killer fishery. or maybe you can find a fishery biologist to ask. without professional advice, i'd release the biggest to give good genetic lines to future fish. what is 'biggest' - don't know for IL. here, i'd say any over 12" long or above 1.5#... just my 2c worth <br /><br />oh, and you can overharvest within probably 4yrs on a 50ac pond. true story: (i wrote then deleted since its a long story) but the long/short is this: this N FL private pond on a huge farm, called "the hay pond" was the once-in-a-lifetime monster LGM bass honey hole. i personally saw 4 10+ lb bass caught in 1 day, and a 12+ in a cooler. only @ 10 people had perms to fish it. but they (being mostly college frat bros) kept every hawg they caught, and had big fish fries. within 4yrs, its hawgs were gone, and the large population of wild shiners overcame the place. before i moved, we last caught a few bass avg 3#. (the only good note maybe was that you could catch some 16" shiners...)

 

[ebbtide176]

Re: Minimum size for Crappie?

typo: meant i don't know 'biggest' for KY

 

[rpeeples]

Re: Minimum size for Crappie?

Sam,<br /><br />I beleive 50 acres is quite large for a pond and it should be self-sufficient in that you should be able to catch all you can handle and it won't affect the population. <br /><br />I have access to a 5 acre pond that I fish just about every week and it seems the more I fish it the more fish there are and the bigger they are. At one time I was going to kill it out but decided to try to catch all I could. It has definitely improved everything. The pond is about 20 years old and has only been stocked once.

 

[ebbtide176]

Re: Minimum size for Crappie?

i guess it all depends on how many fish you keep or let others catch/keep... 50 ac is huge no doubt. and i agree that overpopulation leads to stunted fish/not getting enough nutrition. and then again, your waterhole may have some newly introduced species that is about to alter the other populations - like several nice flathead catfish could do... not trying to be pessimistic, just that if i had a family owned place that big, i'd be very protective of it.

 

[derwood]

Re: Minimum size for Crappie?

1: hold em up to the light. if you can see right through em they are to small.<br />2: if your filaying them and you get to the thick part and you can read the n on one side and the k on the other of your normark skinner they are to small.<br />3: if you throw them in the fry daddy and they go poof they are to small.<br />4: if you scale it and you see the words " made in japan " they are to small. <br /> the dnr sounds like a good idea. that could help you out in more than one way.<br /> derwood

 

[ebbtide176]

Re: Minimum size for Crappie?

derwood....<br />i'm glad you're in here, i wanted to tell you irotflmao on your hookremoval post!! people across the hall came to my office to find out what was so funny <br />anyhow, i wanted to say- ever since my pop choked onna fishbone a decade or so ago, he fillets everything, even bream! i'm tellin you the man should have a tv show, he's not asian but he uses that knife like your nemesis hidden dragon... i'm looking like when each bream filet would barely fill a biscuit, but the man can do 5 fish b4 you get the motor cranked up! you can read newspaper thru em, and they might dissolve on your tongue like cottoncandy, but at least the grits & eggs make a decent meal...

 

[derwood]

Re: Minimum size for Crappie?

ebtide thanks. i like to wright funny stuff. it helps me relax a bit from the day. surveying can tax your brain and your stress factor. it brings me joy to know that others enjoy reading it to. to bad i can't spell.( my mother is a 12th grade english teacher...) yep my grandpa was the same way bout cutten slabs. he was a true normark samurai. it was almost scarey to watch him twitch that blade around like that. i never saw him cut himself though. he must have had boneaphobia or something. he could pull that blade out and skin a fish in a heartbeat. my granma use to say that he could kill and skin a 12 ft gator with a dull toothpick. however i never wittnessed this.( ha,ha) you should go read my post" blind fishing" where me and craibbait kept the kung fu thing going. that was fun. if you have ever watched the tv show "kung fu" you will get the parady.<br /> thanks for the boost derwood

 

[Deenniiss]

Re: Minimum size for Crappie?

Sam,<br />I live in Alton IL and was wondering if you allowed local people to fish your lake. Ive tried Horseshoe lake for crappie and havent had much luck. My wife and I are not avid fish eaters but we had some crappie last summer and were hooked. <br />Just asking. My email is schillinger5@yahoo.com if you care to respond.

 

[Red Rider]

Re: Minimum size for Crappie?

Check with the local Agriculture Extension Agent. They have all kinds of information on the management of farm ponds. That is their job.

 

[Fishbusters]

Re: Minimum size for Crappie?

Aside from contacting your DNR I would suggest you create a maximum size and keep everything smaller till you notice your catch rate declines dramatically. From what I understand Crappies up there are like bream down here they can overpopulate and become stunted to the point you will never have a large fish because the genetics have changed to a pattern for stunted fish. Many lakes have to be poisoned out here and re-stocked just to cure the problem. Your local DNR is the first step in finding out more.

 

[DJ]

Re: Minimum size for Crappie?

sam_fisherman,<br /><br />Haven't you guys ever heard of "Crappie Chips". <br /><br />Anyway, I'm with the DNR having a look also.<br /><br />My father was a wildlife biologist. Typically, small (read plenty) fish mean overpopulation and little, if any, predation. <br /><br />Without predation, the gene pool tends to suffer by weaker fish surviving. I really do not believe you can overfish a crappie pond (private)with that many fish. The secret is to keep the small ones and release the larger. I know that goes against what we want to do, but it's for the better for the pond overall.