So, I’ve been getting a few crappies. I was lucky enough to grow up on a lake that had lots of 14 and 15 inchers ( a long time ago) but now I’ve been living in the metro so long I’m going crappie-blind. I am keeping some dinks. What is a keeper for you guys? 10″? 11″? I just need some perspective.
I grew up fishing Kansas farm ponds and I bet everything we kept was 12″+. Now if the kids are with me or we are catching a few for supper, 9″ is my minimum.
Helps having an electric fillet knife for that size.
Years ago used to only keep the 12″ ones only. As time goes by, I seem to be getting smaller and smaller fish. Now I suppose I will take the 9″ ones.
It depends on where we are fishing, one the river 9+ can be kept up North it is 10 and anything over 12 goes back unless someone wants to keep a 14+ to mount.
X2 icenutz
An 10″=11″ is perfect eating size. Anything over 12″ get released. Really they should be anyway IMO. Like Tom P. said unless you want to mount one over 14″.
Fished a tourney on the Turtle Flambeau yesterday. That lake has a 10″ minimum and a 10 fish limit. Way to protect a fishery! So I am saying 10″ seems reasonable.
Fished a tourney on the Turtle Flambeau yesterday. That lake has a 10″ minimum and a 10 fish limit. Way to protect a fishery! So I am saying 10″ seems reasonable.
Green near Chisago had the same deal. Every year there were 100’s of dead 9.5″ Crappie floating under the ice.
I don’t get throwing back a 14″ as a crappie has a life span on average of 5 years and 14″ 15″ in many lakes is prety much at the end of the life cycle.
9 inch is prety much the cut off line for me, though on a night I am jonesen for a crappie dinner and the crappis are doing the sniffer thing the crappie that ends up on the ice seem to look bigger until I get home.
hl&sinker-
That’s my deal. I don’t really measure them on the ice. They look pretty good coming up the hole, then when I take ’em out of the bucket to knife ’em I’m like ooh boy, that’s a dink.
LMAO! I’m glad I’m not alone on that one. The way I look at it crappies are prolific producers of offspring so year class or size does not effect production in numbers like say walleye. So if we are up to cleaning the dinkers I say go for it but don’t throw them big guys back when you find them because of the idea of reproduction.
I’m not a fan of eating larger crappie. Pure mush in my opinion. A keeper crappie to me is 10 to 11 inches in length. At that size the meat is firmer…still one of my less favored fish to eat but better.
I don’t get throwing back a 14″ as a crappie has a life span on average of 5 years and 14″ 15″ in many lakes is prety much at the end of the life cycle.
9 inch is prety much the cut off line for me, though on a night I am jonesen for a crappie dinner and the crappis are doing the sniffer thing the crappie that ends up on the ice seem to look bigger until I get home.
The larger fish may have another year left in them to spawn and protect the fry with a much higher success rate being they are larger fish…. that’s why you throw them back.
An 11″ <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>Crappie is a perfect eating size to me. Anything over 12″ is getting to big for the table.
An 11″ <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>Crappie is a perfect eating size to me. Anything over 12″ is getting to big for the table.
I am with you! Especially on lakes where they are thick across the back.
When I used to take trips down to Lake of the Ozarks, an 11 inch fish wouldn’t even be thrown in a bucket. Lots of 14-15+ inch fish.
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