Crappie Conservation

[Kyle R]

It's almost that time of year when anybody get can get a limit on crappie. I usually keep my fair share. I was curious on anybody's opinion on crappie conservation. I see a lot of limits come off the lake, but the population seems to be doing fine. But is it better to practice a little restraint? When I take someone we generally only keep 1 person's limit, because that's enough to feed us a couple times over. Would crappie over run the lake like bluegill if not enough were kept? Are they still stocked in Beaver? Should some "selective harvest" be used? Does it do any good to let the bigger fish go? If so, how big is releasing size? 12"? 15"?

Any opinions are welcome. Thanks.

[Feathers and Fins]

I wont keep any crappie under 12'' not enough meat IMO to waste my time cleaning.

[Kyle R]

If I didn't keep crappie between 10 and 12 inches, I'd never have a limit. Small crappie seem to be the ones that like my jigs the most.

[uofastudent]

In my opinion, for eating crappie meat of the fish between 11 and 13 inches is the sweet spot

[kwall]

Crappie, the other white meat , I keep all that the law allows in my boat -- just the thought of some fried with slaw ,taters , hush puppies and an ice cold beer -- wow!!! I'm ready to go gett'em

[fishinwrench]

There isn't any more meat on a 12 incher than there is on a 11.

The 12's just have bigger heads/tails.

[showmebass]

For my small (but growing) family, it only takes 5 crappie of 11"-12" for a good meal, thus a full limit makes 3 meals. I stockpile them through the spring and summer, as we usually have crappie for supper 3-4 times per month.

[Dan Sweeney]

Crappie might could be over harvested, but it would probably take a fleet of commercial trawlers to do it. They are a lower end of the chain sunfish and are therefore highly prolific. I'm not saying you shouldn't practice some additional restraint if you are so inclined (I throw back quite a few legal ones some days, but not always), but don't be too hard on the folks who keep all they can to eat. The established limits seem to be quite adequate to maintain a robust population.

[showmebass]

I agree, Mr. Sweeney - especially when you consider that many larger lakes over in OK have a daily limit of 37 per angler. As you stated, crappie are prolific breeders. Lake of the Ozarks (my home lake) is a place that's pounded with crappie fisherman throughout the year and I've never seen any evidence that the pressure is harming the crappie population.

[Kyle R]

I appreciate your thoughts. I was curious what some people thought. I have to agree the population seems strong. I seem to catch several crappie under 4" when throwing my cast net, so there are plenty of offspring. Thanks for all your replies.