crappie size

[fishing tech]

What would you considor a good size or above average crappie for the metro area???

[fisherdog19]

I would think anything over 12" would be good to above average, right around a pound.

[crappie todd]

a 12 inch crappie is a nice fish. A few lakes have em yet around the metro but its unlikely you will get 10 of em in one outing. And if it was possible I would think keeping 5 would suffice for a meal for two people.

A 10 inch crappie is even considerd nice. and for eating size they are. I don't fish the metro area as much as I once did. I go out side and travel farther all the time to get on larger fish. But even a meal of 8 inch fish is nothing to complain about.. rather tasty Id say.

I do practice catch and release. Take some for the dinner table throw back the others. Fishing for fun and relaxation and just getting outdoors and away from it all.

I am the only one that eats the fish as the wife buys of all things..... fish sticks.

[bassphish2005]

I feel more lakes should go with a 10" minumum on crappies,it has really worked on most of the lakes the DNR has put this reg on.

any other comments?

[Corey Bechtold]

For the metro area I would say that Crappies over 10" become a target. There are some lakes that have Crappies around or over 12" but they are few and far between.

As for minimums I wouldn't mind a few experimental lakes to see if it would work before they would get crazy and make it statewide.

For me personally I prefer 9-10" Crappies for table fare and anyghing over 11" and 12" get returned to the water. The future of Crappie fishing is fine but if more people would start practicing Selective Harvest I believe there would be more trophy potential in the Metro.

Good fishing,

Corey Bechtold

[roadkingclasic56]

I was just out to the favorite crappie hole yesterday and brought home a limit of 8-10 inchers. I noticed that most of them were female as they had eggs in them. It didn't seem to matter what size they were, the eggs were in every size fish in the bucket. Since crappies don't "go up stream" to spawn, is the size of the fish critical to it's ability to spawn? I don't know that one size crappie spawns better than the next since they spawn in the lake. It might make better sense to identify females and release them keeping only the male fish?...if you can tell the two apart before adding them to the keeper bucket. I can't. Is there a way to distinguish male and female other than size of the fish? Another thing I thought about is the idea that bigger fish is better than more fish. Would more eaters be better than bigger? Would managing the fishery for more fish just naturally take care of providing the opportunity for bigger fish? Is my thinking out of whack? Any ideas on this?

[united jigsticker]

A 9" Crappie fillet fries the best!

An Upper Red Lake Crappies fillet takes so long to fry...Well some things are just not better with age. But they sure are fun to catch.

My opnion, if you are IN the cities, and can consistently get on KEEPABLE Crappies, you are a good angler, keep good secrets, or are still dreaming. This excludes your big waters like WBL and 'Tonka though.

[jlm]

I think a lake by lake minimum should be the rule. Some lakes could support some larger fish, it would be nice to see some rules so that all of us coulf go out and catch larger fish to be released. Catching is much better than eating in my mind!

[Matt Johnson]

I'm with Corey. I would say a decent Metro crappie would be 10 inches or larger. A lot of 7-9 inchers in the Metro, and once you hit that 10 inch range then you can expect to see more people fishing that particular lake if the word gets out

Once the 12 inch mark is broke, then I'd consider that to be a nice Metro slab.

Outside the Metro you can tie into more consistent 10-14 inch bites. Not saying that the Metro won't kick out some nice fish, because it does, and it will, but a good majority of your Metro fish are going run anywhere from 7-10 inches.

The time of year also plays a role in size. Also the body of water... and one step further would be the spot on that particular body of water. Some lakes that seem to produce only smaller fish will have spots that produce larger fish. Sounds pretty general and a no-brainer, mainly because it is. Always a better spot on the lake ...it's just that many days those better spots seem to avoid me

I think it would be cool to do a survey on the different parts of the state and see what the variance in size is. How the Metro compares to other areas...

[decoy]

Slot Limits on panfish?

Putting a slot limit on crappies sounds ridiculous.

I took my 4 year old daughter crappies fishing the other night. I would have hated to tell her,

"I'm sorry honey, we need to put this 9" crappie back... it's too small"

She had as much fun eating those 9" inch crappies the next day, as she did catching them.

They are delicious!

Sometimes I think we practice catch and release with common sense...

[river rat316]

Whats wrong with teaching your kids about catch and release?

[dstrey]

It makes younger kids feel special if they catch fish that you keep. Also, a meal of fish isn't a terrible thing.

[ole matty]

this topic will alway pop up in future. all i can say is keep practice catch n relase as u desire, or keep few fishes for meals. if law say people can keep 10 of 15 inches crappies then they can..

cheers

[oil painter]

Reading a post bout crappie size and it turns into yet another catch and release versus keep an eat!! its like drinkers and non drinkers.geeze you guys on either side.... lighten up and relax.100 years from now there may not be anything to fish due to warming pollution etc.the limits are there to protect the fish,in so dak wisc etc they arent running out of fish and they have more libiral limits than minn.I fall in the camp that if I want fish I eat fish... I have size restrictions in place but only cause the bigger fish dont taste as good but I sure dont feel guilty taking fish home limit or less to eat, just like my grampa and dad and uncles and friends..... just do what you feel is the right thing to do for yourselves and dont worry bout everybody else!!!My grandson is 4 and loves to eat fish!!!I make him throw the sheepshead back though!

[R. Miller]

Everyone has the right to their opinion and they're all fine. I like what Corey said in that the best eaters are between your 7-9 inch range. Anything over 10 inches in the metro area is a very nice crappie, and I've had a few meals of 12-15"s, and from my experience, they just don't taste that great anyway. Fish is my favorite food, and i could probably eat it everyday, so this is just an interesting topic for me. Maybe the 10 crappie limit with 3 over 12" or something may increase the potential size in the area? I don't know. Not sure if that could even be regulated anyway. Good luck out there.

[Dan Brelje]

i agree with all of you who have said the smaller the fish, the better the eating. The lake i live on (green, chisago) has a 9" slot for crappie. I love it, the 9 inchers are the best for eating imo. Personally, im not a fan of larger crappies in the fry pan.