olfishead

Wow! maybe you bass anglers should just go ahead and put them in grease so you won't have to over- populate an area. 🤣 Interesting disussion.!

Hard to tell, but looks like another smallie to me.

Good news, good report! What part of the lake? Yes, I think a lot of the fish are spawning at that 10 ft. Depth (before this weeks deluge) at least in the clearer water part of the lake.

MDC web page under fishing, usually posted around February, I believe.

The crappie sampling by MDC usually occurs in mid-october by trapnetting give or take a week or two depending on weather and water temps. Bass in spring late April to mid-May. Walleye early spring depending on water temps. Recruitment depends on many factors. High water conditions, especially just after the spawn does favor survival, largely due to more turbid water that makes it harder for sight feeding predators to feed on offspring, also spreading out fish over more water and influx of nutrients that produces more invertebrates (zoopankton early) for the offspring to feed on. Depending upon the species, generally it takes a minimum of 2-3 years after the spawn to accurately assess that year's year class density. Good news on the fish below caplinger! But who knows why they were there, probably due to good reproduction in that area. The best way to find out the strength of a year class is to read MDC's fishing prospectus each year.

I might add that research shows that the spawn (recruitment) is best when water levels are stable or rising slowly. After crappie eggs hatch (3 to 4 days)the fry become pelagic (go to the open, middle of the lake) a few days after, so, the cover along the lake shore is not that beneficial except that it might keep more of the predator fish along the shoreline and not chasing little crappie in open water. Natures way of insuring some kind of hatch (survival of the species)each year is that not all individual fish will ripen to spawn in a short period. Often when weather conditions are erratic in temperatures the spawn may be spread out over two months. Having said that, the bulk of the crappie spawn in this area is usually mid to late April.

Hope you are right about 2019, and I agree the conditions should have been good. I suppose it makes some difference what part of the lake you fish, and that may determine what the age structure looks like from the individuals view. I know MDC does crappie sampling around mid-lake on the big sac arm. It is a representative, cross section sample of what the whole lake population looks like, but it is not an exact science, ( but the best there is).

Hope you are right about 2019, and I agree the conditions should have been good. I suppose it makes some difference what part of the lake you fish, and that may determine what the age structure looks like from the individuals view. I know MDC does crappie sampling around mid-lake on the big sac arm. It is a representative, cross section sample of what the whole lake population looks like, but it is not an exact science, ( but the best there is). Whites grow faster in length than blacks but not much difference in weight at the same age.

It will be interesting to see if MDC's fall sampling shows a decent sized 2019 year class. They should have been 5-6 inches now. I haven't seen any of those, but I don't use minnows. You tend to catch more of the smaller fish with minnows. BLACK crappie tend to reproduce better in and inhabit clearer water, whites are the opposite. So, if you have several years of clear water conditions black crappie populations usually increase. That's why Truman lake has mostly whites, it is a more turbid lake.. Also, whites seem to be a little easier to catch so as fishing pressure increases more whites get harvested.

Yep, and I really hate to toss any white bass back, usually don't, knowing that they compete for food and space with the crappie (and other species) and probably also feed on those little crappie. It appears to me that the WB are slowly dominating the fishery. On the bright side, they are fun to catch, not bad eating and better than nothing.

May be different for different areas of the lake but I'm around 1 in 20. Most are 11 to 13 inches.

Has anyone been catching sub-legal crappie at Stockton? If so what % of your total catch? My concern is that with the extremely high fishing pressure this year and apparent absence of year classes from 2017 and 2018 that the crappie fishing is going to get really tough for at least the next two years. I hope I'm wrong!

Yes, dehydrating is the way to go at low heat for approx. 4 - 5 hrs. I cut in half before dehydrating. Be careful not to over dry, just to the point that they are dry but still rubbery. Then put in a zip lock and store in the freezer. They are very close to being as good as fresh. Better than fresh frozen or sautéed first and then frozen. Most of those in the pic were black morels.

Yes, at 7:15.

Decided to wait until after the first week to let the crowd get out of the woods. Worked out well. Feathers, Fins, and Fungus = FUN!

Googer creek up in the channel is good after a big rain.

Can't tell you for sure but the water is muddy in the backs of any coves where there's a decent sized stream coming in. Probably doesn't matter though, you can hardly see the water for all the boats sitting on it! Ramps are a circus.

Mutton Creek and Ruark Bluff ramps have been a real circus almost every day for the last two weeks. Except when it's raining, must be a shortage of raincoats! I hear Greenfield Access is even worse.

Thanks for the report. They seem really reluctant to move into the shallows and may never this year. I found exactly the same Monday in the same area.

Not north MC, 😃😃 that's a good one. FAKE NEWS! Maybe that was the entry fee for the tournament there on Saturday. However, a guy could have made some $'s giving people rides back and forth to thier vehicles. The only spots to park was along the road a ways from the ramp.

They will never forget this good time with their Dad. Congrats and thanks for sharing a memory made.

From what I saw yesterday there are more Dads, and families fishing together lately, probably due to the C-19 and the need to get out of the house. (A plus to the pandemic) Hope it continues! It's the best family activity ever created. Congrats and thanks for sharing the smiles.

Thanks for the report! Sorry for such a lousey day of fishing, I'd like a day that sucked that bad!!! 😉

Didn't realize you were a comedian too!

There has been studies going on in the medical field for thousands of years. There are always improvements to be made in about any field if tackled by innovative thinking. "Outside the box" If we took your approach to covid 19, we would never have a cure, would we? God is the only one who knows everything and I believe he gave man a broad array of complex challenges to give us a purpose in life while here on this rock. And, fishing is just one of an infinite number of those challenges! FYI, there have been biologists fired.