Year Class Development

[Guest]

A posting in other forum got me thinking and doing a little questioning.

When you fish a lake for so many years and typically catch a certain number of fish in a certain size range...And over time start seeing a decline in the average size of fish you catch, you probably will become slightly alarmed.

However, does this really indicate a decline in a larger fish population? Perhaps it indicates a strengthening rise in the younger year classes, therefore decreasing the average size of fish.

After fishing a particular lake for 13 years almost day in and day out, I have seen size ranges and rollercoaster rides and seemingly unusual booms of year classes.

At one time, 11-12" Crappies was the norm. That was what came in the boat or up the hole when you caught a Crappie.

Then it seemed for certain parts of the year, a 9-10" was all you would catch. But at certain times throughout the year, for periods of one or two weeks, a certain year class would prevail.

For 2 weeks im spring, you would take all size ranges. Then for 2 weeks, the 1# fish variety is all a guy would catch. Then 3/4# fish for 2 weeks...Then for 3 weeks....9" fish.

So 4 groups make 4 seperate trips to this lake during the year. They all hit a different pattern.

One group reports the lake as having some big fish, but alot of variety. The next group reports the lake has being a true Slab Producer. The next reports good sized fish for a good dinner table feast. And the last group reports that the lake has small Crappies, but fit for cleaning.

I personally have seen different year classes feed exclusivly for a short period of time, and over 13 years can almost predict what will be biting and where by the days on the calender.

Is this true on every lake? I am stating a one case scenerio on a lake I am very familiar with, so I need some opinions and other experiences of fellow anglers. On your favorite lakes, do you find these patterns to hold true?

Give me your ideas...

thanks,

PCG

[Guest]

PCG,

With an increase of smaller fish it can seem that there are less larger fish. The smaller crappies will be more aggressive and strike more often because numbers are up.

I've noticed that larger crappies are more aggressive earlier and later in the ice fishing season. Larger crappies tend to make make their transitional moves earlier then smaller crappies. Larger crappies move into the traditional spots during early ice and feed heavily and then they move out into deeper water leaving the old spots for smaller fish in inhabit.

It could also all depend on weather patterns too. Say one group goes out after a cold front, then the crappies will be negative and larger crappies drop off seasonal areas and revert to deeper water until conditions rise. Larger fish are more suspect to weather conditions.

There is one lake that I fish all year long and it has some similar charatceristics. During the spring the crappies are very active but smaller in size (8-9 inchers). As summer comes along its hard to catch crappies. First ice produces the largest crappies (10-12 inchers). As the winter season progresses smaller crappies tend to bite and larger crappies become very hard to find. Majority of crappies in this lake are small (8 inches or so). But during first ice you will hardly catch a crappie under 9 inches.

I would say that it all depends on the lake and different size populations. I'll ask a few more people about this topic and get back to you.

Good Fishin, Matt.

[Guest]

Don't judge a lake by what people report getting one trip. You have the right idea by testing it out over time. I think what you have found is true of most lakes with the exception of a few. Usually big crappies are not the majority make-up of the lake. However, on occasion you get a strong year class that makes it to a ripe old age and do bite.

The Horseshoe Chain is going through the exact same thing right now. The only fish that want to bite are 9-10 inch fish, representing a very strong year class. However, there are two other strong year classes present, that are bigger fish. However, they have not decided to cooperate this winter, yet. What I am getting at is you have the right idea by studying a lake over time and don't judge it by what bites in the winter. Year around fishing would give you a much better representation of the lake. Scott Steil

[united jigsticker]

This reminds me of the concern on URL, only the difference is we don't see hardly any numbers of smaller fish to aid the future of the Crappie experience.

Has there ever been anything printed on migration patterns vs. size? By this, I am relating to certain lakes, big or small, where alot of people claim to get bigger fish from a certain region of the lake vs. other areas (i.e. north end vs. south) etc.

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Fish On! Fish Off! ::Guzzle::

[Kidd]

There's a good article in the Feb issue of North American Fisherman that pretty well lays out the migration patterns of crappies. It also reinforces MJ5's comments about the larger fish being the first to transition from deep water into shallow.