crappie minnimum

[matix10]

whats the minnimum length of crappie that i should keep for the dinner table.

[huskiesplayer15]

its all in the eye of the beholder, this will be another one where people could get fired up, i would say it depends on the lake, you go to red and you cant catch a crappie under 12 inches, but you go to rush and you cant catch too many crappies over twelve, so in a round about way i would say it does depend on the lake but 9,10,11 inch fish are decent table fare, i think 11 and 12 are your breeding stock , but it is totally up to you, you put the time, you spent the money, you did legally i hope then it is you r fish and you do with it as you please.
Best Fishes
Chris

[Matt Breuer]

Depends on where you are. Which fishery I am on makes my decision. Almost all of the time when I'm crappie fishing and looking for a meal, I'll keep anything in the 9-11" range. Sometimes I'll keep a 12" fish, but not typically. Some days I will keep fish only in the 9-10 inch range, it just depends on the day and fishery. On Red, if I want a meal, everything that looks male goes in the bucket.

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Matthew J. Breuer
Northcountry Guide Service
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[Matt Breuer]

Deja Vu... Well said Chris!

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Matthew J. Breuer
Northcountry Guide Service
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[huskiesplayer15]

Matt
are you a student at bemidji State?
oh yeah great minds think alike, dont they?
Best Fishes
Chris
IBOT WANNABE

[Matt Johnson]

I typically like to keep crappies from 8-10 inches for the fryin pan, exception would be Red Lake. Although I have kept a few crappies over 10 inches on other lakes too.

Good Fishin,
Matt Johnson

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[Seabass77]

I talked with the west metro fisheries officer about this a couple of months ago and I learned alot. The short of it is, it depends on the lake. For tonka, he reccommended 9 - 10 inchers. He said the biggest problem with maintaining a nice population of panfish is not people taking the big ones necessarily, it's that people generally over harvest. i.e. you and a buddy each want to have a fish fry, you both take your limit, fillet em up, and fry em, you end up with way too many left over fish. They are considering adopting a slot limit for crappies on tonka, but it wouldn't be for a few more years as much research needs to be done to verify that this will work on this lake.

I encourage you to contact your local fisheries manager when anyone has questions such as this. There is often not one right answer and it often depends on the lake.

Joe

[Trailblazin]

The limit for crappies in MN is 10.
How in the world could the DNR make that any lower?

[Thomas]

i'm fine with reducing the limit to 5 anyone else?

[Roosterslayer05]

I wouldent mind a 5 fish crappie limit, When I go out crappie fishing I dont keep more than 5 apiece anyhow usually between me and 2 friends we will keep 10 fish. Maybe 5 is a little strict though, I wouldent mind an 8 fish limit.

[Mayfly]

A limit of 5? I don't like that idea.I need to eat more than that. If I go out fishing for my family I want to bring back enough for a meal.

5 Crappies...LOL

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Many go fishing all their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after.

[Matt Breuer]

IBOT WANNABE, I am in the Master's program at BSU, as well as many other great FM'ers. Some of the true great minds on the site are BSU boys, including woodman, Tom Herman, bemduckboy, and many others. And trust me, you don't want to be an IBOT... Ask Northander and myself...

As for the crappies, I think the limit is fine at 10, just limit your catch. If everyone would practice restraint we'd all be fine, but we all need to be realistic. I'm sick of this site getting turned into a PETA discussion. I am guilty of getting into it from time to time, but really, why don't people worry about themselves! I'd bet that a lot of the people who rip people apart for keeping fish have kept many fish they shouldn't have, or over handle their fish, or don't limit how many they c&r, etc... Sometimes I catch 50 and keep 10, sometimes I catch 20 and keep none, and even better, sometimes I don't catch any and the lake is in great shape!!!

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Matthew J. Breuer
Northcountry Guide Service
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[Matt Johnson]

Great mind?....Matt Breuer?.....

Good Fishin,
Matt Johnson

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[Matt Breuer]

I was wondering the same thing!

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Matthew J. Breuer
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[CrappieJohn]

Matt Breuer has hit the nail on the head. Limits are not the issue. Individual responsibility is. You need to know your waters and what each will bear for personal harvest. You need to impose upon yourself your own slot limit which preserves both the smaller as well as the larger fish. Every body of water is different and that slot has to be approached differently. When the limit for crappies was dropped from 15 to 10, there was plenty of grumbling to be heard, but the bottom line is that 15 of those fish would yield thirty fillets and if that isn't enough for dinner try adding some veggies and potatoes. I live in an area where the Mississippi River backwater's limit on crappies is 25. Some days you cannot find fish smaller than 12 inches. I keep 5 of those for our dinner with none as leftovers and it has been twenty-five years since I've kept 25 of those fish at one sitting. People need to start looking very seriously at how they are affecting things by keeping full limits day after day (also illegal if not fully consumed daily) and having the freezer full only to burn and get thrown. Catch/release and selective harvest are freebie tools that all of us can employ without being told to do so. State-wide limit/slot changes are not the answer. Ever. The waters with problems are already being watched by the dnr. As are the actions of the anglers on those waters. Being a prudent angler goes well beyond knowing how to catch a hundred and fifty crappies in a morning. Being a prudent angler means knowing how many and what size constitute a reasonable harvest. I know a lot of "keep'em piggies". They don't get to sit in my float, nor do I share my "secret" places with them. I share my ride with persons who care enough about the resources to limit themselves.

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Plastics...making better fishermen without bait! Good Fishing Guys! CrappieTom

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[jlm]

I agree it is all about personal responsibility. However, how many people are really capable of doing the right thing. In my experience, I have witnessed people catching and eating big crappies. It really makes me sick and I try to tell them the impact but it goes mostly unheard. If we were to put in a slot limit and lower the limit, I think it would have a far greater impact than leaving it to personal responsibility. However, I believe any slot or limit reduction should be on a lake by lake basis due to the variability of the lakes of MN. Just my opinion I guess. Anyway, good luck and get the big one!

[CrappieJohn]

JLM...Actions speak louder than words. If you have made your case, if you practice your message, you have done all that you can. Feel good about that! Sometimes it does more good to just shake your head when see these dolts taking the biggies, especially if they can see you do it.

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Plastics...making better fishermen without bait! Good Fishing Guys! CrappieTom

Culprit Tackle Crappie Pro Staff
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[Thomas]

i pick 5 fish - 1. because i don't like cleaning more. 2. i can't eat more than 5. 3. i want to catch lot of fish, so limit my harvest. 4. it does frustrate me, when i see people keeping the large ones-especially when they have a bucket full of them.

[decoy]

A limit of 5? In every other state the limit is higher than that. ND for example is 35 with possession of 175. I only say that to make a point. (Who needs 175 crappies in their possession?) I know those limits can't be permitted in this state, and I wouldn't want them here.

I personnally think that the limit of 15 wasn't bad. 10 is a tolerable limit.
From my perspective. It rearlly isn't the "limits" that pose our problem, it's the "limit" breakers. It's those who keep over the limit or multiple limits who pose the biggest threat.

The people who upset me the most are those who don't obey laws. I've called the TIP line more than once... Tom is right.

MY $0.02

DECOY

[Mr. B]

Just a quick question for you guys. I usually fish Crappies once maybe twice a year. I sometimes keep a limit of big Crappies. Is this so wrong? I am keeping 10 big Crappies a year for my wife and I which give us 2 or 3 meals.

I think that those that ignore the limits and those that are going out night after night and keeping large fish are the real problem. Not someone that keeps one limit of large fish.

Just my opinion and I wouldlike to hear everyone else's.

[CrappieJohn]

Mr.B....You will not find us dunning you for keeping a limit of nice eaters, even a few times a year. For those that enjoy eating fish, this is 50% of the reason to fish. And you paid dearly to be able to do so. The key issue is that some people keep nothing BUT the biggies and do so every day for days on end. That sort of action is what needs addressing....with the cell phone and the TIP #.

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Plastics...making better fishermen without bait! Good Fishing Guys! CrappieTom

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[CrappieMagnet]

Well said CrappieTom!

Keep a few big ones but C&R the rest.

CM

[B. Amish]

When you guys are saying "biggies", "big ones", etc what size are you talking about?

to me a big crappie is over 13-14"
the lakes i fish the average i catch is around 11-12" i would guess

i've never kept a full limit of crappies or sunfish, it just takes too long to clean that many fish, plus i can't eat that many

[CrappieJohn]

Each body of water has it's own threshold for constituting a biggie, therefore requiring each water to be viewed differently in that regard. If your lake has a run-of-the-mill- fish size in the range mentioned, go ahead and keep a few of those in that bracket. If you kill a big one, keep it. If you kill a smaller one, keep it. Now if you have a lake that has big fish in the 10 1/2 inch range, you will not want to keep anything unless it falls into about the 8-9 inch slot. You have got to know what each water you are going to will bear for keeper fish.

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Plastics...making better fishermen without bait! Good Fishing Guys! CrappieTom

Culprit Tackle Crappie Pro Staff
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[Thomas]

if you go fishing only few times and keep a limit - thats fine in my book. i just have problem with people who fish all the time & keep all the big fish. i have a hard time believing that they can eat all the fish they catch day in day out.