Food for thought on Big Crappies

[FutbolGuru]

OnAFly & Chode - Same goes during the winter. Today everybody and their grandmothers have the right electronics to catch pannies. Let's face it, as good as some of us think we are at catching slab crappies, it's a very easy task on the right body of water. Put Dave Genz on a metro lake and he'll struggle like the rest of us. The Joe-dontfishmuch's of the world can go out on good lakes with thier fish finders and fill a freezer in no time.

I'm all for trying some of these regs... but I don't expect too much to change if indeed they are implemented.

If only all fisherman cared as much as the guys on this forum do.. we'd all be up to our necks in 16 inch red lake metro slabs!!!

[PEATMOSS]

The 7-county metro area has a land area of about 6400 square miles, some fairly decent bodies of water and a population of about 3.2 million people.By contrast,Itasca County is alomost 4000 square miles, has about 1000 lakes and has a population of about fifty thousand. Are we perhaps getting to the point at which statewide regulations are obsolete?

[OnAFly]

I can see state wide regulations not making complete sense, but defining limits by bodies of water becomes difficult when you have as many lakes as we do in the metro area.

[Jim Uran]

Are we perhaps getting to the point at which statewide regulations are obsolete?

Who said anything about them being statewide?

[Bluegill1510]

its stupid easy to catch panfish during that spawning time, and usually they are the bigger ones

I agree Blue, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out how to catch a trophy bluegill or crappy during spawn time. Thats why I think the DNR should impose a "state wide" C&R reg or a maximum reg. in which if you catch a bluegill 9" or over, or a crappie 11" or over it must be immediately released back into the water during the the time frame of Starting on April 16th (most lakes are on their last leg of ice out all over the state, and coincides with border water eye, pike closer on the 15th) until muskie opener or 1st weekend in June. By then most of the bluegills and crappies have spawned through out the whole state in June, and if its a late spring like last year at least the bigger trophy panfish in lakes or rivers in southern & central Minnesota get released so that they can spawn, and the smaller fish get yanked out to help with the stunting. As Peatmoss posted the stats of Itasca county comparing to the 7 county metro area and the diversity in lakes...there is just way to much water to cover in Northern Minnesota let alone Itasca county for the average fisherman, so the fishing pressure can be minimal. Its just an idea off the top of my head but then a guy can go still go out during the spawn or in the spring and catch a meal or limit of smaller fish to eat, and get a chance to CPR a trophy panfish, so it helps with the stunting and the trophy or big guys go back! One thing I have notice statewide is alot of guys quit panfishing once walleye season starts in mid May so that late April & early May time period is the key time o me for when alot of the bigger panfish get taken out of the system. To me its a better idea to have some type of regulation like that than having the whole Panfish season shut down like walleye or northern pike is.

[itchmesir]

I'm with PEATMOSS on this whole thing.. its ridiculous to have to enforce stricter regs on pannies... really? more people these days are stuck in the greed factor of wanting that big fish that they can brag about the rest of their life... what happened to fishing to enjoy fishing? or fishing to supply food for the table? have most anglers lost the true joy of fishing and just hate each day unless they catch a pile 16"+ slabs that they can mount on their wall?

like PEATMOSS said.. if you don't like the fishing conditions.. find new water

[Bluegill1510]

I'm with PEATMOSS on this whole thing.. its ridiculous to have to enforce stricter regs on pannies... really? more people these days are stuck in the greed factor of wanting that big fish that they can brag about the rest of their life... what happened to fishing to enjoy fishing? or fishing to supply food for the table? have most anglers lost the true joy of fishing and just hate each day unless they catch a pile 16"+ slabs that they can mount on their wall?

like PEATMOSS said.. if you don't like the fishing conditions.. find new water

I can comment on this itch, I don't think its to ridiculous to have some sort of regulation during the spring when these fish spawn when the bigger pan fish are prone to over harvest. Most of these guys are talking about trying to keep the bigger pan fish in a lakes ecosystem rather than having a bunch of stunted fish, like you can encounter in the metro or more populated areas of our state. I do agree with you though that people don't fish for the pure enjoyment of going fishing regardless if they catch anything or not, and I think a lot of that has to deal with a faster pace of life people live, and all the gadgets that we all "have to have" to be able to fishing. Maybe I am old school for being 26, but my dad gave me a jiggle stick (hand over hand) and a bucket, that's how I learned how to fish & lucky if we got use a house. (We mainly ice fished, as he worked construction in the summers and we never got out in a boat or owned one for that matter). Now you read posts and hear from guys or my friends that have kids, that you need a underwater camera or a vex/marcum just to get their kid into fishing & keep their attention, while they sit in a nice portable or pull behind house. So life in that aspect sure has changed in my opinion.

Getting back to the topic though...For me personally I already have fish mounted that I can brag about later in my life to friends, family and my kids when I have them. I've always loved to fish and always fished to keep fish for a meal, getting a big one is an added bonus, but I am not afraid to do the extra leg work to get on big pan fish. I guess what is the big deal if there is a regulation on trying to keep bigger pan fish in the ecosystem of a lake or river or if pan fish are protected while they spawn just like walleyes, northern, muskie and stinkin bass are? To me that's not being greedy, taking limits up on limits or double or triple over-limiting in a day & filling your freezer is! Then you might as well just drop a net then because then it would way more easier, and you only have to go out once instead of wasting gas going back & forth from your house to the lake.

[SFC]

More regulations will not stop people from filling their freezer, if they are currently breaking the law, they will continue to do so. Close the season during the spawn? One person says 5 crappies, 10 sunnies, I could get a meal with that limit. What about the next person who wants the limit at 1 & 2,& closed season during the spawn,which can be very late in the year in the north part of the state. No fish on my wall never will be, I just enjoy the memories.

[OnAFly]

You're right, why try to conserve or improve anything. Let's all just deplete our resources until they are gone and then find another place to deplete. I mean, we have an infinite amount of water right? We don't really need any limits on anything right? (sarcasm)

How is trying to improve the quality of a fishery greed? If you are trying to feed your family on fishing, you have bigger problems than smaller limits or increased regulations.

[itchmesir]

yeah... forgive me.. i forgot.. fishing is all about who has the biggest boat and best rod so that you can pull in the fish of a life time.. how silly of me to think that someone would fish to eat

[FutbolGuru]

Itchmesir... I hear what you're saying and do agree to an extent. Panfish are the one species that most people target to keep. With that said, hypothitically: say we put panfish regs on several big name lakes in the state tomorrow... you could still 'fish to eat'. Just catch them outside of the protected slot, or go to one of the other 5,000 panfishable lakes in minnesota and keep whatever you want there.

[Scott M]

Let's try to keep things civil guys within the context of how everyone likes to do their panfishing. We don't all view or utilize these fish in the same way. Be respectful of others, even if you disagree. (in short, let's not have to break out the padlock!)

[slurpie]

Whoever fishes to feed the family thats bull. It would be way cheaper to take them for a meal of burgers somewhere. After driving by a local spot the last few days something needs to be done. Its the same people every day and just a bad deal. Filling buckets and lucky if they are 9" and paper thin. It's that kind of actions that make people want more restrictions. I watched a lake have a crappies boom and get pounded by 600 plus houses for 2 winters all winter, Last winter you had to work to find them and the lake was void of people. I dont think that is right. I feel something should be done to at least drag the bite out and maybe we could have good fishing for four or more seasons. I dont know what the solution is but anything is better than what we got. Why if we want fish do we have to catch them on a hot bite and fill the freezer? Why not have regulations to improve the catchable size of fish and catch fresh fish for a meal? And another thought i've had has anyone ever noticed how much bigger an 11" crappie is VS an 9" they get bigger by 2" longer and probally as much taller. Anyone else think this?

[itchmesir]

I can find some happy medium with lakes that need regs.. i dont think such a thing should be a state wide "closed season"... also.. think about this.. you realize how much time and effort its gonna take a DNR officer to go through and measure 20 bluegills if there is a slot? if anything.. it would just make sense to either lower limits or close during the spawn on said lake

600+ houses???.. urban sprawl lake style..

maybe i'm "old school" when it comes to my panfishing.. but its all about fishing for food when im out catching pannies.. im not doing it catch a trophy bull..

[waterbound]

maybe i'm "old school" when it comes to my panfishing.. but its all about fishing for food when im out catching pannies.. im not doing it catch a trophy bull..

I think that's typical view of panfish. I like to catch pannies to fry up, but a lot of times I'll just catch a couple little ones to throw back so I can kill a couple hours. I've never set out to catch big panfish, but I sure don't mind when I stumble into some

[PEATMOSS]

Speaking only for myself, I can honestly state that my fishing,hunting and gathering are absolutely NOT motivated by economic need. Both the Mrs. and I are gainfully employed and have pretty decent jobs, especially for our area of the state. Further, given my taste in fishing rods and my obsessive/compulsive need to make certain that I have at least a dozen of everything in my tackle box, fishing is NOT a cost effective means of putting food on the table.

What this discussion boils down to for me is a question of what our great heritage of outdoor activities means to each of us. Wild fish and game are delicious and nutritious. The act of catching,cleaning, preparing and serving that which I have harvested by my own hands is, to me, the true essence of fishing. Do I like to catch big fish and do I occasionally brag when I do? Yeh, but that's just butter on the popcorn, not why I fish.

I release alot of what I catch and I am all for biologically based regulations that assure that the resource we all treasure will be there for future generations. What continues to disturb me is the needless and kneejerk trend towards restricting harvest simply to placate those for which the outdoors has become some sort of game. I'm tired of having to defend myself and those like me. We are not meathogs, neanderthals or hillbillies.

If you guys need a few trophy lakes around the state, fine. There are plenty of other lakes for me to fish. The limits are low enough already on the rest of the lakes, so please, give it a rest. Regarding fishing in the metro, I think y'all are delusional if you think that you can regulate your way to happiness, but if you must please keep it in your neighborhood.

[tunrevir]

It may have been mentioned already because I just scanned this post lightly. You can try and regulate your way to a better panfish lake as was tried with a 9" minimum on Green lake in Chisago but it isn't going to work to grow the fish on every lake. Green no longer has a 9" minimum. Now you look at some of the lakes up north that have restricted limits say, 5 fish and there is a reason, they are protecting the resource because that lake has shown it can grow large fish and sustain that population with limited harvest. Like many have said, the most hurtful thing to a resource is the same guy going out day after day and keeping a bucket full of fish. If you see this or suspect double tripping then use the tipline. I have no problem with folks keeping fish to eat big, small or medium, that is thier choice to do so. The biggest impact we can make is to teach our children what is ethical and why catch and release or limited harvest is important to maintain the resource if this is important to us. If we go hog wild and fill buckets every chance we get our kids will also have that mentality. Now, I think I'll go out and do a little crappie fishing all this talk is making me hungry

Tunrevir~

[OnAFly]

I've got no problem with people keeping panfish, or any fish, to eat. You bought a license you have the right to catch and eat fish. I have a huge problem with the mentality of hitting a lake until there is nothing left then moving onto the next lake.

[Jim Uran]

like PEATMOSS said.. if you don't like the fishing conditions.. find new water

If everyone lived by that there wouldn't be any good water left. Special regs imposed on certain lakes wouldn't make everyone mad would it? Sure it's more regs on an already highly regulated sport, but we are still debating quality here.

[DTro]

Sometimes I wonder how things would change if there were no regualtions at all...on any fish.

It's weird, but I can almost convince myself that things wouldn't be that much different.

The people that self regulate would still do so, and the same with the freezer fillers.

Sure would be interesting.

[Jim Uran]

yikes... I think slots help out a fishery, as do harvest limits. That's a whole new topic... start it up Dtro

[goblueM]

limits work on some lakes, not on others

thats the big challenge of fisheries management, each lake is different biologically, then you throw in different angler practices, pressure, and the like and you really have a hard time applying similar regs on lakes

[Bluegill1510]

good post itch, because I can agree with a lot of the points you bring up. Maybe my off the top of my head regulation wouldn't make any sense with releasing gills 9" or over, and crappies 11" & over, over said time period of example "April 15th-June 1st". In that regard the bigger panfish are released to spawn, and you can still go out and keep a meal or limit of eater gills or crappies. Because most guys on this thread would agree with me in that they would keep 7-8.5" gills & 9-10.5" crappies for eating. I do agree with you a slot on panfish like they have for walleye & northern is to time consuming for a Conservation Officer to sit and measure 20 gills or 10 crappie, and frankly wouldn't catch the guys who go over limit anyways. So the slot idea is bogus to me for those reasons, and lowering limits is probably the way to go if need be.

I just brought up the idea of a closed panfish season as a last resort or something I could possibly see the DNR imposing on certain lakes and possibly statewide if people are out to fill freezers. Luckly people do care about the resource and can limit themselves to selective harvest when these fish are vulnerable during the spawn.

As far as fishing for panfish for a meal or food, I am with you on that as I am not afraid to keep fish to eat. I've done it all my life with gills, crappies, walleyes, northern, etc. I just have learned over the last 4 years to limit myself to keeping eater fish and releasing the bigger bulls especially in the spring when they are spawning & easy to catch. While also having learned that you can have just as good of fishing for bluegills & crappies at certain times during mid & late summer, in the fall and during early ice as you would during late ice or the spawn.

[SFC]

How did that 11 1/2 inch crappie ever survive the pan for 10 years? If you want some fish to eat definetly do so ,I prefer to keep sunnies from 5 to 7 inches. Is this stunting the fish, should I realease these and only keep the 8 to 9 inch fish and so on? Does anybody know the answer? From what I have searched it seems kinda up in the air. I caught alot of sunfish with deformed spines this year on bb lake, from search engine, causes - pollution- overpopulation-lack of food. I will go by the limits and regs the dnr sets. Do they know the answer? If they do just do what needs to be done.

[itchmesir]

Speaking only for myself, I can honestly state that my fishing,hunting and gathering are absolutely NOT motivated by economic need. Both the Mrs. and I are gainfully employed and have pretty decent jobs, especially for our area of the state. Further, given my taste in fishing rods and my obsessive/compulsive need to make certain that I have at least a dozen of everything in my tackle box, fishing is NOT a cost effective means of putting food on the table.

yeah.. i don't understand why some of these posters seemed to think that i must be financially unstable if i am catching fish to eat?

and yeah.. big fish are great to brag about.. but you know what.. just being outdoors.. away from all that is concrete.. makes for a good day to me.. catching fish makes it better.. and catching a big fish is just the proverbial cherry on top of the sundae