Lower the crappie limit !!!!!!!!!!!!

[deadminnowcatcher]

The DNR should reduce the crappie limit to maybe 4, so that it remains as a good crappie lake. Whe does it need to be 10 when they are so big???? It would be nice if everyone would just keep enough for a meal and let the rest of them go but that will never happen

[harvey lee]

Alot of people police themselves very well.I think for the most fisherman police themselves very well and realize they must help protect the resourses.There are and always will be some fisherman that will take thier limit plus no matter what the law states.It would not bother me to drop the limits for both crappie and sunfish as the majority of the fish I catch are released anyways.But thats me and not everyone.How many more or stiffer laws do we need to stop some people,and can you?

Maybe better education.

[eyes']

Because they are all nearing death right now... The average lif of a crappie is 10 years.. Do the math, there is a 95' year class and a 97' class. The 95's are for the most part dead and the 97's are close... Think of Red in the future as a lake Mille Lacs. They are there and will always be there just not in the numbers like the past years..

[Skitterpop]

The massive 1995 year class is reaching natural mortality and lowering the limit to 4 will not stop death from old age. Yes, the crappie are huge on URL but have you ever caught crappie that big and that consistent on other lakes across MN?

The DNR establishes safe harvest limits and dropping the limit of crappie to 4 does not really make sense to me. If the logic is lowering the limits to near zero then why not banish all harvesting of fish?

Have you ever tried to feed 8 people from 4 crappie? URL is soooo unique and the crappie boom will be a thing of stories. Yes, there will always be crappie in the lake, just not in the millions like what happened when the walleye no longer thinned the fry each spring.

Eating panfish is the safest when it comes to mercury in the meat so if they lower limits it should be on walleye and pike. I am not advocating being a meat hog but I would like to eat a meal of crappie and have another one for the freezer when I want a meal of fish and I can't afford the $ or time to go fishing again.

10 crappie is just fine .

[bhs91]

They should have lowered it long ago and put a slot in there as well in order to better sustain the population. But then of course, no one would have driven that far for only 4 or 5 crappies, thus further exacerbating the economic woes of the area. At this point I think it would have little affect in the overall scheme of things.

[bigbucks]

Amen skitterpop & 'eyes, all fish die, it's like ripping somebody for putting a 30" walleye on the wall. Sure that fish may live another year or two & someone else might catch it, but it won't reproduce anymore & may die after you release it anyway, so if you want to mount it, go ahead.

[Toby]

You couldn't be any more right, the way its going this lake will have no crappies at all.

[WalleyeGal]

There is no lake in MN that can sustain a HUGE population of BOTH walleye's and crappies. You can't have both worlds. I believe that we will now have 8 yrs of great to good walleye fishing and then the crappies will have another comeback. The last 2 yrs have been "transition" yrs. The crappies are falling and the walleyes are thriving. In another 8 yrs I believe we will see the crappies have another boom and the walleyes take a fall(HOPEFULLY not bottom out again though).

In a perfect world it would be great if there could be a medium population of BOTH. And in time I think that will happen, in time being MANY, MANY yrs down the road.

Just my .02

[kgpcr4]

One problem is that there are to many large preditors in the lake. Personaly i would like to see more big northern cought and kept. The walleyes are not very fat looking. Compared to Millelacs they are pencils. We caught a 21lb gator on sunday am and tried hard to release her but she was shot. We tried for over an hour to get her to go but to no avail. The taxidermist agreed it was a very skinny norhtern for her length. There have been some very good hatches but the all got eaten so there is where they went. That lake is out of balance with predators vs prey. Its a good thing they started taking walleyes out of the lake.

[united jigsticker]

What about the huge Crappies in Red back in 1988? Back when nobody cared....cuz they were too busu catching Walleyes

Think of it this way:

Back in 1996 when people gave the lake attention for Crappies, they were catching fish 15-16".

I don't think they were 1995 and 1997 year class fish.

And in 1999, how many 1995 and 1997 year class fish were caught?

The fish are always 13-14" on average...Do they grow in a year and then sustain the same size?

It's hard to target Crappies when the population of Walleyes is so huge.

Even if the population of Crappies sustained itself, it wouldn't seem to since the Walleyes are larger and more dominant on the food chain.

As anglers, we really can't see what's going on under the lakes surface.

Walleyes and Crappies can and do co-exist in the same habitat and areas.

The amount of forage to support them both isn't really an issue either. The lake is huge, and we are fishing 1/3 of 1/2 of the total area of the RED LAKE body of water.

Small Crappies on Red have to hide. Pike love Crappies for lunch, these small ones have to "hide" most their lives...

Probably explains why the Crappies never appear to us fisherman until they are out roaming free water at lengths of 14".

Of all the 100's of 1,000's of Crappies that are and have been in Red, there was alot of potential to Spawn...I wouldn't be worried.

[Skitterpop]

Amen!!!!

[BLACKJACK]

I think that one of the reasons that the DNR didn't lower the crappie limit on Red is because they wanted the crappies thinned out so they wouldn't eat all the walleye fry.

Just think if the DNR had dumped 40 million crappie fry into Red instead of 40 million walleye fry!! They could have sustained a world class crappie fishery. How many lakes can you say that about? Even though we have plenty of other big walleye lakes - Mille Lacs, Leech, Winnie, LOW, king walleye won out. Yeah I know, 'Red is a natural walleye lake' but the crappies seem to do well and another 40 million dumped in would have sustained them for another 15 years. And I've heard that crappies bounce off any nets put out. Wouldn't that be sweet, having a lake full of fish that couldn't be netted!

I know, its time to quit beating this dead horse, its starting to smell, its time to look forward to the current fun with catching walleyes, but how many lakes can you say WORLD CLASS CRAPPIE FISHERY about?

[stellarfisher]

If people around and on Red Lake, including the DNR, wanted the lake to stay a world class fishery for walleyes or crappies, they should make it a total catch and release lake. I mean most people get the enjoyment out of fishing from actually catching the fish. Yes, true fish die and therefore maybe you should keep them because they would die anyway. But imagine the fish that would be in there now if no-one was keeping all of the 12-16 inch crappies. A state record could be pulled out of there every year. And same goes for walleyes, look at the lake now, the fishing is amazing and everyone is happy cause you can go out and catch walleyes everytime you go out. Well I think we should keep it that way, at least for a couple years, CPR only!! Thats just my 2 cents.

[MarvinGreene]

There are plenty of crappies in the lake. I've been fishing for crappies since the late 80's and never had problems in finding them. I usually fish the blackduck river for crappies. I've caught them down the Red Lake river.

What I find weird about the Red Lake crappie is that I've never caught a small one under 12"; they've always been big.

So, Mr. Toby, don't worry about the crappies becoming extinct on Red Lake. If you find that there are no crappies on the state portion of Red Lake, wait awhile; the numerous crappies from Lower Red Lake will make it to the over-fished part of upper Red Lake.

Good luck fishing!

[cookie129]

Good one Marvin. I have heard that the red lake river can be excellent for crappies. Never heard about blackduck river but that makes sense.

[snapcrackpop]

They did!

It used to be 20 per day (or 30?) and now it is 10.

[Tony]

Here's the deal with stocking crappies: they are difficult to culture. It's not like squeezing walleye eggs into a pan. Nest gaurding spawners like crappie are difficult to produce even in small numbers. Nobody, including the DNR, could raise enough crappie fry to stock even a small to moderate sized lake, much less Upper Red.

[fry em up 2 day]

Hello everyone my question, God forbid I doubt the DNR, but the crappies on Red are 10 years old and are healthy as ever, the state record is 5 lbs. Reds are just under 2 lbs and dont look like they are going to die anytime soon.Am I wrong,,,,,, fry em and eat em ,we only get to fish 8 miles of the lake

[Quackaddict9]

Quote:

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They did!

It used to be 20 per day (or 30?) and now it is 10.

---

15.

[snapcrackpop]

Quack

Thanks, I knew it had been lowered, but wasn't sure of the number.

With my boys turning 5 & 6 and buying my own boat this year, I didn't do much fishing the past 10 years.

Less than 24 hours now for me...work will drag on forever today!

BTW, I grew up in Fosston. Say hi to Paul & Babe. lol

[WigglinMyWorm]

It doesn't matter how low it goes.....the people who abuse it now are going to take the same amount anyhow.....

[walleyeaddict]

[Note from admin: Please read forum policy before posting again. Thanks much.]

[oil painter]

hey Walleye gal ck out my icon! good pic!

[Stan7600]

We fished Fri. on the South side. Caught 18 crappies, approx. 40 walleyes and about 75 Sheephead. I would'nt want to be a minnow or baitfish trying to make a living in the lake the way all those fish hit a bait. The predator thing must be out of balance and the sheephead are very aggressive. We moved because they would'nt leave us alone. We were checked by DNR and were glad to see them out there. Nice guys!! Enjoy it for what it is and for the people who lived thru the tough times. Their perspective is completely different from those of us that come for a vacation. Stan C.

[Eyehawk]

I agree fry, if the DNR wanted to lower the crappie limit they would of done it back in 1999 or so, when the big crappie boom was on Red and everyone in their mom was up there fishing and taking limits upon limits off of 13-16 inch crappies. Now it is a walleye lake again, for how long who knows? But i sort of agree with the person who said the crappies may come back in 8 years or so, just for the fact that this "walleyes jumping into your boat" scenerio will not last forever, and then Red will turn into another big walleye lake like Mille Lacs, Vermillion, Lake of the Woods, Winnie or Leech. I am glad Red Lake opened finally for walleyes though because it will take alot of pressure off of Lake of the Woods, Winnie, and the Bemidji Lakes area, which they need!

Stellar catch and release is your thing which I applaud you on because then it leaves for more fish for me to catch and eat. I rarely go fishing to throw them back, don't get me wrong I love to catch the fish, but I love to clean them and eat them as well, so I don't waste them at all, and most trophy fish I do release back, unless I put it on the wall. I know its hard for people to release those big plate sunfish/blugills (9-10 inches or larger), lol I do know, but you gotta do it for the better of the fish population of that lake, otherwise put it on the wall.

But to get to the main topic I agree with lee harvey most people police themselves or they learn to do so by seeing how they have an impact on the lake and the resources of it. And if you don't just look at your favorite spots and the lakes you do fish, and think to yourself is the lake I fish on big enough to reproduce itself for the specific species I am after and does the lake get pressured alot? Because small lakes cannot take alot of fishing pressure, like your bigger lakes can, and people need to realize that. Otherwise your average size for fish will just go down and then the lake is so called "fished out or stunted" But I think people just need to learn that, and to keep their good spots quiet and not tell everyone in the sea where they catch fish and how they did so and what they used. Fishing is about trying to figure it out yourself and how to catch fish when no one else can. Thats how I was taught and was told to do so when you do catch fish. Why put all the work and effort into it and blab it to someone else who will just go to and ruin it? Unless your a guide I understand but that doesn't make any sense to me.

Lowering the limits won't do much but just piss people (including me) and the people who need the meat or want to take their limit will do so or go over their possession limit anyways, so I think the limits now for every fish species is fine. I feel everytime the DNR lowers the limits or puts some outragous slot on a lake that we as fisherman are not policing ourselves and that to many people are fishing period.

[steve schmidt]

The limit as stands is not the problem.

I am no longer a Minnesota resident, but I was and continue to fish Minnesota.

Part of the problem is not the limit...it is the fisherman who are camping in the area. Out in the A.M. early and out with a limit, out again mid morning and our with a limit, then after lunch out for a limit and you get the idea. Does it happen?? You bet!!!

However, according to the DNR and statistics for crappie longevity, the "big uns" are nearing their life cycle.

Being a knowlegeble fisherman I think the DNR is doing great job trying ot monitor the fishing on Red Lake. I like the idea where they are trying to montitor the pound intake, however they can't truly monitor resort or camping takes.

Hey, let's take things as they are, let the DNR do what they consider the proper approach. Sometimes we forget they are out first line of defense.

[gorrilla]

Eyehawk, do really think people should "police themselves?"

Even though I'm the king of speeding tickets, I do see the merits of the posted speed limit. I guess I don't trust society to be as good/perfect/knowledgable as yourself...

[Eyehawk]

No gorilla I know people don't police themselves. Sorry if painted the wrong picture in your mind that I think they do, but I fished enough to know 85-90% of the people who fish do not police themselves or don't really care.

[deadminnowcatcher]

90% dont care? Now I cannot believe that! I would bet that 99% do care and there is 1% out there that are the bad apples. At least that is my opinionm and i would hope it is not the other way around

[Eyehawk]

then why does the DNR drop limits and make slot limit rules? If people cared alot more then we would have a balanced population of fish, and less rules for all the lakes of Minnesota, but maybe my numbers are high but like gorilla says some people police themselves and some don't.