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My First BIG Crappie!


AllDayFisherMan

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Last night I caught a 12.5" monster crappie right at sundown on a West Metro Lake. I was so pumped! This has to be almost double the size of my other biggest crappie!

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Goodcatch alldayfisherman, me and a buddy were out on tonka early yesterday morning and we hit the jackpot. 30-40 crappies all between 9-12 inches and my buddy caught one that was just over 14 and a half inches. Hes getting it mounted. We absolutely slayed the crappies. and to top it all off about 20 min. before we left and we already had our limit my buddy caught a 7 lb. northern on the crappie rig after fighting it for about 5 minutes. Just a great day out on the ice.

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Good to hear! Days like this are what keep me in the sport! I love having a great day! I spent some of the day on Indepencence and caught some dink crappies! While I was fishing, caught a nice sized 14.5" walleye. Nice bonus!

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That is a great catch! I know where your going next time. If you see me with binoculars I'm watching the birds not where your headed to fish grin

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yea i caught my biggest crappy two weekends ago it was 13.5 inches a monster. Man those things are fun to bring up.

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truly a nice fish, I managed 2 13.5, and a 13.75 inch this winter, doesnt seem like they get much bigger in these parts, I wonder what size youd have to get to mount one? I keep holding out for like a 16-18 incher but will probably die before that ever happens around here.

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Congrats on your biggest so far, keep at it and you will get bigger fish! There are some nice crappies in the metro if your on the right lakes, quite a few that hold some 16"+ fish. Last year I got my biggest at 15.5" and this year I got 14" fish and a few in the 12-13" range, all on lakes that kick out 16"+ fish year after year. I am hoping to break the 16" mark before I think about getting a replica mount made.

It is so fun to pull up them slabs, I think what makes it even better is that you will catch soo many crappies and then BAM a giant slab that finally makes it worth it. I dont really eat fish so its all about hoping for slabs, and after all the time spent catching average size crappies it really makes my day to land a slab.

I always encourage panfisherman to practice selective harvest to increase the numbers of slabs here in the metro. Nobody is saying dont eat fish, nothing wrong with it, but just using your head and keeping the fish that are plentiful and not the old timers that take many, many years to get that big, and are few and far between. I like to see people eating crappies between 8" and 11" here in the metro, once you get over 11" your talking about a fish that is rare in these waters and these fish are the future slabs that could be if released. I know its nice to clean a few less fish by keeping the biggest you get, but ask yourself is it worth the few minutes of saved time to eat a big crappie and remove it from the population instead of just keeping a few more from a size range that is plentiful in the lake? The sport of fishing is changing from the way it was in the past, people are much better at finding big fish due to all the new technology and the increasing numbers of people fishing and sharing information, and all it takes to still be able to sustain the fishery we have is selective harvest.

Good luck on the lakes!

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I was fortunate to get a 16 1/2" Crappie in Ely two years ago. It weighted 2 lbs 5 oz. I did get a replica done.

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Crappie that big in ely must've been 20 years old!!! grin Very nice fish...so far my 15 inch crappie has eluded me this season...biggest is only about 11 inches frown But the winter is still young!

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Way to go on the big crappie! It sure is fun when your getting a bunch of 'metro sized fish' to hook into a nice one.

Ely was where I got my big crappie too. For some reason there are a few select lakes up there that have monsters. Mine was just a hair under 17. Like 16 7/8. My buddy got one on the same day that did go 17. Best day of crappie fishing ever. Kinda cool when you got to lip them out of the hole.

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There are big Crappies on the Lake we fish. It's in 28 ft of water, near a sunken Pine tree. The smallest one we have caught when we go up there on our Summer Vac is 9". (Mid JUly) The average is 10" - 14". We never keep any of them, and we usually only fish the spot twice during the week.

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Congrats on the big fish, I was hoping for a pic:-) ...been a long time since I had a decent slab on my line.

FishinChad, gotta agree with you on your post. I always try to think, too, when debating on keeping a fish, that you're not only taking a fish, but you're also taking the genetics out of the lake as well.

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A 12" crappie is always a fun catch.

I agree 100% with the thoughts of a selective harvest. Im also a firm believer in taking nice pics and creating a mount from those vs killing the fish.. it lasts longer and is cheaper.

If your pumped about a 12" er... I cant wait to see you post once you land into a 14 - 16.. cause they are out there.

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If you or anyone happens to get any fish that they want to get mounted I recommend Jack or Scott at Minnesota Valley Taxidermy in Burnsville. They do an awsome job! I just picked up my 14.5" white crappie and a 19" smallie. I also had Jack do my buck head a couple years back. I'm really happy with all of them. They look alive! Their prices are average but the turn around time can be long. I think they get pretty busy with orders. The wait is worth the product though! I'll post up some pics for everyone to see his work. Last year I caught a 20" smallie out of our cabin lake up north that I released so I think next I'll have Jack do a reproduction mount of it. I've seen some of his repros and they look awsome too! Congrats! Nice fish!

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Allday: Nice fish. I agree with Big A's comment about how pumped you'll be when you catch one a couple inches longer. I only started fishing seriously for crappies within the last couple years. I'm absolutely hooked and my addiction is driven by the time I lived in the Central Lakes area of MN. There are some great, untouched and less-pressured lakes that hold some big crappies in big numbers. Last spring I got on a small lake and sight fished the crappies in 5 fow. There was a fallen tree hanging over the lake. I stood on the tree trunk (quite wide) and watched the crappies swim through. I caught about 20+ crappies in about an hour or so and the smallest was 11 inches and two were 14.5. Had a large pike take after one of them while reeling it in (I got the crappie and the slough shark missed). The majority were 13+. Every one of them are still swimming. Was an absolute blast. My goal is to get one in the 16-18 inch range some time.

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I agree with FishinChad on the selective harvest, I released a beauty 17.25" crappie last spring (see my avatar) on a lake that is hit hard but still produces fish. I would like to think that thing is going to spawn some monsters (in the future) this spring (if someone else didn't keep it). I will be getting a replica sometime - just have to convince the wife.

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MMMMmmmmm mighty fine looking Labatt's! Oh yeah and nice crappie.

EyesOnThePrize that is a real beaut. Thanks for releasing it.

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Nice fish....the taxidermist I use said fish do not shrink when frozen. I thought he was wrong but he swore they don't shrink at all.

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No, they do. I measured it originally and it went over 12.5" and then when I measured it at the house it was 12"

What happens is that fish are used to being in the water and then when you take them out, they start to lose some of that water.

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That is why you have to be careful when you keep a walleye that is right at the minimum for the slot limit. Quite a few years back I was on Waconia, and had a walleye that was about 1/4 of an inch over the minimum. We thru it on the ice, and didn't think anything of it. About 4 hours later the local CO knocked on our door and wanted to know who put the walleye on the ice. Not thinking anything of it, I told him I did. I then got a lecture about keeping a fish that was under the slot limit. It got a little heated. I told him he was full of it, and that fish was over the slot by 1/4 inch. He believed me, but the CO told me that once you take them out of the water, and throw them outside that some of the water starts coming out of the fish as they freeze and that they also shrink when they freeze. He said they can easily lose a half an inch, and even more on a bigger fish. He told me going forward to keep them in a bucket of water with some ice inside the house, and we could avoid this conversation in the future. Luckily I got off with a warning. Haven't had a problem since. I'm guessing that I wasn't the first person he had this conversation with, and probably not the last either?

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Sight fishing those basking crappies in spring sure is fun though isn't it!!!? We got into a bunch of 11-12" slabs like that on Webb lake once! One of my favorite fishing scenarios!

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MNFishtrapper: Yes the sight fishing in spring is a blast. The water is usually so clear you really get to see some patterns and understand how fish react to different baits. It was funny, anytime the crappies had some competition (e.g. sunfish who raced to the bait), they lost interest.

Plus, you get to see a lot of other big fish swim by. The lake I fished on (and hope to this spring), has a lot of bass and pike in it. Of course, they are out of season then, but just watching them can be fun. That pike that took after the crappie I had on the line went and laid about 15 feet from the tree from which I was fishing. Was fun to watch her just sit there in the sun.

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  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

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