Saving the Crappie on URL!

[GoggleEye]

Just a quick question. Has URL ever been supplemented with stockings of crappie?? Or does the DNR look at this as a wasted venture as many of them may migrate west to find themselves trapped in nets???

GE

[LABS4ME]

No and no...

Good Luck!

Ken

[kelly-p]

The crappies were originally stocked, I believe, in 1948. Crappies are hard to catch in gill nets. One of the reasons for the "crappie boom" and why the DNR can not get an accurate count on them.

How would you get crappie spawn? Crappies do not run up rivers to spawn like walleyes, pike or suckers.

[GoggleEye]

I don't think the DNR rears crappie in the hatcheries. I think what they do is take crappies out of other lakes that have an abundance of them and stunted populations and then stock them into waters that can support them with good forage. URL obviously can support good populations of crappie and grow them big, so I was just wondering if the DNR has ever talked about it.

[GoggleEye]

If you guys want me to, the next time I come up I could bring thousands of stunted crappies from these crappy metro lakes and dump them into URL for ya (btw, that was just a joke for those who don't really have a sense of humor)

GE

[BigVLover]

How long until the inevitable post about "thousands" being over the limit?

[ozzie]

???????

[halad]

The DNR says their are lots of little ones every year its just that very few survive. Most are eaten.

[waska]

haha.. well those food deprived walleyes and pike need something to eat! they look forward to the crappie hatch

[2izm]

A few buddies and I were up on URL a month or so ago and a DNR officer stopped to check us out and we asked him about the Crappie population - he told us that these Giant 15 plus inch Crappies are in the lake, but they are hard to find since the lake is approximately 10-13 feet everywhere on URL so they don't concentrate in one area of the lake, which makes locating these illusive Giant Crappies a very difficult and frustrating task. However, when you find a school or -- wait for a school to come by - it's well worth it. It's like winning the jackpot - if you have the right numbers then you win - in other words - if you are at the right time and place - you get your Crappies. We did manage to catch (12) 15 inch Crappies on that weekend, but there were 5 of us so if you think about it - it's like 2 per person or something. However, we moved constantly throughout the lake - the chase was exhausting with a few bites here and there for Walleyes, but none within the 15 to 16 slot size until night time - we maxed out. Well - good luck to you all - we'll be back next winter.