Paper thin Crappies and heavy weed growths

[fisherman-andy]

With the Summer in full swing the Algae and weed growths are thick in the lakes & pond.

Generally one would think that the weed growths affect feeding patterns and is usually positive for fish but I have notice paper thin Crappies at several lakes or ponds that I fish. They look so skinny like there is no forage at all.

Crappies due prefer open water more and it seems like these fish are being quite picky on what they eat or they are just not getting enough to eat? Could it be that were also not getting enough rain and have low water levels? Or is the weed growths providing too good of a cover for preferred fry,baitfish, or certain forage that they feed upon?

Funny thing is sunfish do just fine in the same waters. Seem to be fat and healthy while the Crappies are paper thin. I do however notice the larger slabs to not exhibit the same problem. Only fish within the 6-8 inch range.

[Kyle Sandberg]

The younger fish may be getting enough food it's just that they are growing so fast they can't put on any weight. Why are 10-12 years old (humans) nothing put skin and bones?

[schr0563]

I also fished a small south metro lake earlier this spring that had healthy 11-14 inch crappies in it, but if you got them smaller than that they were thin and boney. They actually looked like they were starving - protruding backbone and bulging eyes. After cleaning some of the larger fish, I noticed they had green sunfish in their stomachs - which led me to believe this was the only available food source and the smaller crappies were struggling to find food. The larger fish were nice and fat because they were able to eat the sunfish. Tough deal to see - sometimes nature can be cruel.