Crappie Sizes

[thedeadsea]

This is something that I am not figuring out.

One year, you fish a given spot and get crappies of all sizes from 3" to 12+" with no distinction. The next year in the exact same spot, all you catch are 7-8" fish, nothing bigger, nothing smaller. The next year, it is different again.

Is there any research or trends that support this, or is this just one of fishing's mysteries?

Steve

[Fever]

I think it depends on the lake and the presure the lake receives. If one year you are catching respectable fish, everyone else prob is to. because of that most fish of harvestable size are fished out. Most but not all. So the next year comes around and most but not all of the harvestable fish are gone. What's left are the previous years dinks that need another year or two to mature. Hence Crappies and Sunnies tend go on 3 - 5 year cycles depending on lake and the presure. Just my two cents. This happens to alot of smaller lakes in my area. Trick is to go out on your own and if you find em keep a relatively tight lip if its a small lake. Good luck to you.

[thedeadsea]

Thanks, never heard about the 3-5 year cycle before.

I should have mentioned that I am fishing a big spot on a big lake that gets fairly low fishing pressure. We were catching nice ones right up to ice out last year and the spot gets zero pressure in the summer, so thats what threw me for a loop.

[Bluegill1510]

Deadsea...I've noticed this to on some of the lakes I panfish in the winter. Fever is right about the 3-5 year cycle on crappies and bluegills that get hit hard on certain lakes. But with lakes that don't receieve the amount of pressure other lakes do or if one lake is very big and the pressure is spread out compared to the a small lake I then think it depends on the previous months' climate and weather ahead of time in the summer and fall with weed growth & weed structure, and also with bug hatches, smaller baitfish spawn supply/growth. Sorry if that don't make that much sense but look at last fall and summer it was very colder than normal and lakes really never had their weed structure full develope and with sporatice bug hatches, and the panfish never had a good spawn like in normal springs/summers especially on lakes in Northern Minnesota....and then with the warm fall the lakes never had a gradual cooling trend that would be consistant with a normal turnover on each lake, and this fall the lakes turned over late...which inturned lead to a weird early ice and mid ice bite for panfish. The same can be said for late ice and if you have a good warming trend the bite will be awesome, but if the weather is up and down and you throw in a snow storm with below average temps in end of March and April the fish just shut right off. Plus one thing I have noticed is with bluegills and crappies is the big ones stick together and the little ones are off on their own or following behind. So the schools move and relate to where the food is and structure is as well. Also don't get discouraged if you are catching rock bass because I've found out the monster bluegills will hang around with the schools of rock bass, which I find odd but I guess they don't get big for being stupid. My best advice is always be scouting and trying new spots and get away from people, cuz everyone follows the crowds and thats fine for early ice but later on that don't work anymore and the fish move. I've had spots where I GPS them cuz I did well on them and the next year same time they are dead..so I just go searching. And when you find htem just keep it to yourself unless you enjoy company & doing all the work for others for free.

[thedeadsea]

cuz everyone follows the crowds.....And when you find htem just keep it to yourself unless you enjoy company & doing all the work for others for free.

I hear you totally. I have a permanent and every Saturday there will consistently be 3-5+ portables set up within 20 yds of my house, yet the "spot" is about a quarter mile square. I basically have given up fishing Saturdays due to this and hit the house after work and on Sunday afternoons.

I am very tempted to put my permanent on the 4' reef off to the side of the spot and let all of the house chasers try to fish in 1 FOW because they think the guy in the permanent is the expert. I'll be sitting on the good spot in my portable laughing.

I will say the fish have gotten smarter. When I was a kid, there would be 50 guys out there, and everyone would be catching fish, long before flashers. Now you can catch fish, but it is quite a bit slower, and there is a definite learning curve with a few tricks. I have talked to lots of guys out there who have been skunked.

[Bluegill1510]

Quote:

I am very tempted to put my permanent on the 4' reef off to the side of the spot and let all of the house chasers try to fish in 1 FOW because they think the guy in the permanent is the expert. I'll be sitting on the good spot in my portable laughing.

Haha..hey if you want to do that thats up to you man, the more power to ya. I seriously couldn't do that in the winter just cuz when I am on the lake I'm going to be fishing and finding the fish or sitting my spearhouse...not playing games with the followers. But in the boat its much easier to throw out a marker bouy in the middle of nowhere and watch how many guys get sucked in, and then retieve it later on after you caught your limit...than say it is to move a big permanent house all over the lake in the snow.

But ya Deadsea I've learned that there are just some lakes you don't fish period in winter or summer on weekends cuz they are zoo. Sadly I think its become that if you want to have any decent fishing with out people bombarding you...you just have to go on weekdays or take a day off of work & go out. When I went to college in Bemidji my buddies and I would fish the popular lakes during the week when they were quiet and no body was around...and then on weekends we'd go on safari we called it and just go try new lakes or lakes in the middle of nowhere so you didn't have to put up with the masses.

As far as the fish getting smarter I think so to a point, but with the advances in finders and GPS and mainly the Lure technology that there is today its no wonder ya know. That berkley gulp stuff is incredible real life looking bait but I think still isn't as good as real live bait. But I also learned a few tricks of the trade and learned how to make my own panfish lures for winter and open water...so when a guy asks me what I'm using for a lure I am not so worried that they will have the same thing as me. We've come along ways from hand augers and jiggle sticks with hand over fist'ing those panfish up.

[thedeadsea]

I totally agree about the safari. I use Saturday as my exploring day or just stay home with the family and then hit the permanent Sunday afternoon when all but a few locals have headed home.

One of my buddies is from the cities and he often is out there Saturday and keeps an eye on the house for me. More than once, someone has had the nerve to mess with the door while multiple people are fishing out there. Just don't understand that or the "flocking" tendency but this is my first year with a permy.

[Mr. Pike1]

Not to stir the pot by my personal opionion is that they should not allow perms on the ice. Many of the lakes I have fished all my life for crappies there is no big secret as to where the deep holes are that hold fish. Far to often I have seen a guy in a perm house think they own a spot on a public lake because they put there perm out.

If you do not like the crowds on a known deep hole for crappies set up in a nice 10 foot dead spot on the lake and enjoy the privacy.

[thedeadsea]

No need to play devil's advocate with me. I completely believe that a permy doesn't entitle anyone to ownership of the ice around it. My beef is lazy fishermen who set up twenty feet away rather than giving a guy a little space when you are sitting on top a huge piece of structure, all of which holds fish. I put my house on an arbitrary spot on a depth that I knew held fish from previous experience. On any given Saturday there are 5 portables within 100 feet of me while the rest of the area is untouched.

That is lazy fishing. Wait for someone else to do the work and then plop down next to them. Just like boat chasers in the summer.

It doesn't apply just to permy's either. Some fishermen will do the same to guys in a portable. My buddy was set up in his portable, and had a line of tip ups out one window. Some guy rolls up and sets up in between him and his tip ups. He was in a bay that is 5000 acres and there are maybe 8 people in sight. Again, just pure laziness.

If you are on a small, well known piece of structure or a metro lake, expect to fish in a crowd. Up here there really isn't that much pressure, so there is no need to fish in someone's lap.

[Mr. Pike1]

Deadsea, fully understood. I am out for enjoyment and thearpotic. Never looking for any trouble. I just don't like the occassional sence of entitlement I see on occassion on local lakes.

[thedeadsea]

No problem. It's all good.

Agree totally about getting some peace and quiet on the lake. That's why I am so confused why some people want to fish so close to another unrelated party in the middle of a big lake.

[bdafisher]

It could also be that the portables are popping up beside you because they know about that spot. I can't count how many times I have flipped over my otter on my friday spot, fished it for a few weeks with no body around, and came back to find 2 or 3 permanents out there. Then I set up, right where I had been fishing for weeks, and the guy is the perm is grunting and groaning at me. So I know it goes both ways, and unless you get your shovel out and start digging a pond in the back yard, there are gonna be people that are fishing next to you. And oh yeah, I wish crappies were bigger too.

[thedeadsea]

I know it is just a fact of life. In my situation, the "spot" is probably 30 acres large and I have caught fish in every bit of it. That's why it is annoying to me that people fish so close. There are fish everywhere in there, and naturally by packing 20 people onto a single acre of water isn't the most efficient way to get fish. I have talked to other guys fishing out there who have spent the time to look at a depth map and they have all said the same thing.

Last year, there was one permy out there, and it was on the other side of the deep hole from where I am. Naturally people flocked towards him. This year, I put my house a good 150 yds away from his previous spot as to not interfere with him, he never did put his house out this year, so now I am the center of attention.

My buddy said he is putting a sleeper out there next year, so then they will leave my little house alone and chase the nice house.

[OnAFly]

Set up the "dummy" house. Get a stereo and play some loud screams of "look at the size of that crappie!" every once in a while and go fish in your porty.

That way, at least if the fishing is slow, there will still be some entertainment.

[Bluegill1510]

Mr Pike the only beef I got about not having permys out on the lake period is that I spear and I will leave my spear house out in the same spot for a week or couple weeks at a time before moving it again. Just because its alot of work cutting spear holes constantly...its not like power augering 2 8" holes for your portable and flopping down...I bet with my last spear hole I cut 2 weeks ago it took me 45 minutes to an hour to cut it and clean it. So thats all I am saying...I'm still young and hole hopping is my name of the game, even though I don't mind sitting in a permy every now and then, but I am constantly fishing out of a 1 man flip over or sitting on a bucket/sled or kneeling on the ice so I really have no need for a permanent house to angle out of. But when I get older and my body can't take the cold like it can now or moving around is to much of a hassel, and when I have a family I'd like to have a pretty decent permanent to go out to or take "them" out to. As to crappie or even bluegill fishing in the winter I honestly don't understand the whole concept of using a permenant because these fish are roamers and being mobile is the key to catching them anyways.

Deadsea to go with people moving in on you issue I have story for ya. I was talking to an old timer that was from up in your neck in the woods one time on Red Lake, and he told me he was fishing Burntside for Lakers & walleyes near Ely one day. He said he was out all by himself no one around him within 1/2 mile, and this guy drives up right next to him with his truck and decides to plop his butt right there. And like I'm talking plopping down close...as in the 10 foot rule was being broken possibly. So the old timer said he let the guy get all set up and fishing, and then the old timer got out his heaviest rod with the heaviest line and put the biggest and heaviest air plane jig he had with on this rig and dropped it down and began to start jigging it with big jerking motions. Well needless to say his air plane jig went flying all over and snagged the other guys fishing line, and the fight was on for the other guy (thinking he had a monster lunker on). The old timer even let it play out and was giving drag, and then started to reel again, in which he could hear the other guy's drag running on his reel and he was making comments that he had a big one on. Well the old timer said he did this for like 10 minutes and then reeled up the guys lure and then snapped it off in his house, and he could hear the guy just cuss and was upset that he lost the fish that had snapped his line. So the old timer waited about 5 minutes, after all this, opened the door of his house, went over to the other guys house knocked on his door and the guy opened it and told the old timer he just had a monster on, and the old timer hands the guy his lure and walks back to his house and starts to fish again. The old timer said that guy was gone and out of there in less than 5 minutes! I thought that was a funny story when he told me that, sometimes you have to do that, so that those people get the hint. I don't expect be all alone on any spot or miles away from people but I do expect respect and common courtesy in that I keep my distance so not to crowd you or to not drive or even walk to close to you so that I don't disturb your fishing..that I expect the same from any one who is fishing or recreating on the same body of water that I am.

[thedeadsea]

Awesome story!

I agree about hole hopping for panfish. I put the house in that spot because it is close to home and I can go out there for some R and R if I have a couple of free hours and still get a few fish. When it is nice enough to have the kids outside, I hole hop while the boys take turns playing and "helping" me fish. We then use the house as a warming shack.