crappie fishing limits, over fishing

I have been fishing the same area for crappie in the spring for over a decade. donny 135 made a good point on keeping big fish. So I was curious what other opinions are out there. My best day of crappie fishing ever was april 16 2016. I caught about 230 crappie from sun up to sun down and kept 23 all between 12 and 15 inches. That day there was one other person there. Every year since then there has been 12 to 18 boats near me. I fish for crappie every spring for a week, every day from sunrise to sunset. All these boats come in so I see EVERYTHING all day so this is not speculation. So some of the same boats every day fishing with 3 or 4 people and I do not see any fish being released. So if I am catching hundreds of fish in a week but I never get to my limit in the fridge...we do eat some during the week so I have kept more 30 in total but never over the limit at any time EVER. Do the math...all these boats...hundreds of fish being caught none or very few fish being released...small 5 or 6 inch crappie and up to big ones just thrown into coolers and buckets. Last year the MNR was at my spot handing out fines at the boat launch...I call when I see something that is wrong and against regulations. The problem is the MNR can not be there every day to catch bad people. WHEN are people going to wake up and follows the rules. Maybe it is time for size limits on crappie and have the posession limit 15 in total, not as many as you can fit in your fridge and freezer at home. At least it would take the bad people longer to empty the lake. GREED is a very bad thing...not just in fishing but anywhere.

Here is a picture of my best catch. If they dropped the limit to 15 it would still be a great picture.

I agree with you on both size and possession limits. There's no need to try to empty the lake of a particular species, especially when they are so easy to catch at that time of year. It reminds me of a sign I saw in an all-you-can-eat place in Maryland - "Take what you want, but please eat what you take". That prevented a lot of food from being thrown away by wasteful customers.
Is it really necessary to just keep every single fish that bites your bait? I have a much better time on the water catching a bunch of fish and watching them swim away. I personally don't keep fish (well, rarely), but I have no issue with someone taking a few for dinner. I recall one "bucket brigade" person telling an MNR officer "I caught it, I'm keeping it".

Not sustainable on pressured waters.

If bad guys keep hundreds when the limit is 30 not sure much will change when the limit is 15. This will only affect good guys who can fish one or few times the whole spring and want to keep a limit once they have a good day.

You feel something is wrong you call MNR or try to teach them yourself if brave enough.

I am ok if the limit is 15.

I personally fish for crappie all the time and i keep the 7-10 inch fish for the table. The bigger ones i never keep as i don't need to. I do the same with perch and bluegill, keep the medium sized ones
and release the big ones so they can spawn.

I have a good friend in central Michigan who fishes almost exclusively for panfish. His favorite species is sunfish (Redear, pumpkinseed, bluegill). He's sent me pics of bluegill that seem almost as big as a dinner plate or frisbee....covered almost his entire hand! He never keeps these huge fish as they are the best for replacing the genetics for big bluegills. He has also sent me pics of crappie that were even bigger, and he never keeps them either for the same reason. Most of his acquaintances who fish for the same species feel the same way....take a few of the medium sized fish home for dinner, let the big ones continue to swim.
They also don't have a size limit in Michigan, and only a few jurisdictions have a possession limit, but these species are thriving over there. They must have a lot fewer "catch and keep anything that bites" folks in Michigan.

Sounds like Lake Simcoe perch fisherman.

i don't think it will stop bad guys doing that even if limit will be lower, and my idea is to double or triple fishing license cost, and spend the money for programs to have more fish in lakes and rivers just look down south they manage it really well

Although I'm not arguing this isn't possible, I like the idea of conservation of what we have a lot better than just adding more. Instead, if they were to have more money for MNR officers to up patrol and all that stuff it could be just as effective.

I'm just thinking "out loud" I have no evidence to back this up or anything. But regardless of what the government does, I think if people are better taught what sustainable fishing actually looks like eventually there might be a bit of change. Everyone will find their way around the law if they want to and don't understand the full impact of their actions.

Another thing I'd like to add, I notice it's often a generation thing. My grandfather and most of his friends straight up don't understand how their actions hurt the lakes. Even though it's within the law, they will keep their limit every chance they get. if it's not sustainable "its the government's fault" not on them

Anyway I'm not making any claims like I said I'm just thinking "out loud". Fishing is only becoming more popular, hopefully, SOMETHING is done to ensure our lakes are staying healthy. (more than what's being done now)

Well you all make valid points...the bad guys will still be bad guys...and I am all for raising the fees a bit as well as triple the fines when the bad guys get caught. I called three times this year and got lucky that they were in the area and did show with the ticket book. Like I said before in previous posts. I do make the call and try to deal with what I see if I can...and have many times. If any of the bad guys happen to be reading this you know who I am. I am told they call me the gentle giant that treats everyone with respect until they break the rules...then apparently I yell a lot while educating. If that does not work it is phone time OPP or MNR depending on what I see. And yes...my dad is 82 and grandfather if he was alive would be 102 and great grandfather and great great grandfather and so on... their generations were definitely responsible for SOME of the over fishing from a cod fish or sail fish to trout and walleye pick a fish or even maybe a buffalo or elephant or rhino...many irresponsible hunters and fisherman that first exploited this country...or went to other countries to exploit their fish and animals.

Corse tissue fish have interesting reproductive capability. The bigger they get the more eggs the females have and they already carry the DNA to grow big.

Keeping big Crappy is legal. Many things are legal but don’t necessarily make the best sense for a trophy fishery.
Want lots of big crappy? Let the big crappy go.
I personally would support a slot limit of both crappy and perch.
As for poaches lower limits don’t stop poachers. That’s like gun control stopping criminals.

Fishing is constantly getting more difficult, not because fish become smarter but because there are less fish in the water.

**Just an opinion - sorry for the rant**

"Fishing is constantly getting more difficult, not because fish become smarter but because there are less fish in the water"
Pretty well sums it up sabby.....
before my days are over I may very well end up standing in a river throwing flies around at nothing, just for the sake of it.

I am currently re reading books written by Roderick Haig Brown that were originally published in the late 50's. Although they are purely based on his observations specific to the west coast and more specifically to anadromous fish it is truly amazing and extremely sad to be living in a time when the most dire of predicted potential outcomes sighted by him are now near the reality only 70 years later.

Overharvest and poaching is no doubt one of the major problems conscientious anglers are facing now and certainly would be one of the easiest to correct (simply because it could be an immediate personal decision made by the individual and costs nothing to implement) but its still amplified drastically when combined with every other man made influence surrounding any given fishery across the country - from crappie to walleye to steelhead to wild brook trout to atlantics to cod etc. - you name it.
From hydro dams to irrigation to dredging to logging and on and on, mans negative influence on the environment and fish stocks as a whole has never slowed even for a minute, in fact all it has done is accelerated and with all these combined will soon be if its not already at the breaking point.

Nowadays it seems the majority of people who pursue fish for pleasure are perfectly content with "put and take" fisheries instead of wild fish without even asking themselves why. Most of them (it seems to me) dont even correlate the overall enjoyment/success of an outing to anything more than numbers and size of catch...... the natural happenings surrounding them during the activity and the circumstance under which they are fishing that used to be important and make up a large part of the total experience dont even seem to be noticed anymore by most as long as there is a fish or more to show for the outings efforts.

In my mind thats why there is garbage and line everywhere that was once pristine, even the places that are out of the way and relatively unknown.
Thats why people constantly kill broodstock.
Thats why people have deep freezers full of fillets.
Thats why poachers keep killing more than allowed.
Thats why more and more access is privatized.
The experience is now only measured by "success" when finished and the surroundings and the influence of nature as a whole while out in pursuit takes a backseat as does all the time and effort of theorizing, planning, testing techniques, reading water etc. that used to be rewarding - now its simply go on the internet, find out where they are, go there, catch, leave.

The ideas of higher fees for licenses to put towards stocking and enforcement etc., implementing slots or lower catch limits and even straight catch and release zones are all potentially positive and could help in changing the direction of our fisheries although I do believe stocking can, at times, have negative impacts on whatever remains of the wild stocks in the subject watershed.
I agree with Donny - "I like the idea of conservation of what we have a lot better than just adding more" and Disco "want lots of big crappy? Let the big crappy go"

Having more CO's able to respond quicker and cover more physical area would be nice. I'd pay more for a license in exchange for more boots on the ground.
As for limits, judging by the biannual m&r guide, eating vast amounts of fish (from southern ont. at least) doesnt look to be too healthy nor is it probably necessary for survival in most peoples cases.
That DOES NOT mean im saying dont kill and eat fish if YOU want... its just something worth thinking about.
Although I am a 100% C&R guy I will also say that even when done to the best of an anglers ability it is said to still have a minimum of 5% mortality rate and an average of closer to 20%.

I like to hope that a large part of the direct negative impact is due to a lack of education surrounding the state of our fisheries. This is why we - the guys who live and breath fishing have an obligation to be proactive EVERY time we are out.
It would do us all well to remember what drew us to the sport in the first place and I can only assume by the knowledge and interest I have found from contributors on this board it wasn't just bragging rites.

Bring an empty garbage bag in and take it out full, keep a sealed container on you for butts if your a smoker, release fish healthy when given the opportunity and keep only what you will eat.
Participate in community debate surrounding policy/projects/proposals that clearly impact fish and wildlife.
Participate in/donate money or time to groups whose goals are the restoration of clean waterways and environmental protection.
Most important of all though pass on your knowledge and experience in any way you can and steer people towards respecting the fisheries we have left at every opportunity... A large amount of people doing some or all of the above could at least contribute to the slowing of a fisheries death even with the poachers still at it.
Cheers,
MM

Wow epic MM...

Very well said and 1000% true.
Better than anything I could have written...

The heart and soul of what fishing truly is, is slowly disappearing.. I have always said, the reason we see the garbage and lack of respect for many of these places many of us hold dear, is the ease at which the "lazy group" acquires the knowledge.. If you are given the prize without the effort and hard work, you don't give it any value...

Anyway.. Good read MM & thank-you!

As for supporting groups that rehab fish environments, conservation groups, etc, always a good call with good intentions.

Hate seeing all the development in the headwaters of our rivers and streams so developers can charge premiums for properties with a view.. But that's another rant -- money talks...

Over an out.. Cheers & Happy Fishing.