Jer Posted May 5, 2009 Report Posted May 5, 2009 Sunday afternoon, my buddy and I were on one of our "no-miss" crappie spots and pulled in fish after fish for over two hours straight. We must have caught at least a hundred crappie, keeping the biggest dozen, and yes, they were yummy. It was a crowded spot, with as many as nine boats in there at one time. At least everybody kept it civil. Last night after work, I went back with the dog to see if I could get a few more. I had the whole lagoon to myself and could not find even one crappie. Two hours of fishing and all I could catch was a couple bluegill and a rock bass. Where could the crappie have gone in just over 24 hours? The weather hadn't changed at all, besides it was nice and calm yesterday. Oh well, i guess that's fishing.
Whitespinnerbait Posted May 5, 2009 Report Posted May 5, 2009 Where could the crappie have gone in just over 24 hours? In to many 5 gallon pails.........
Jer Posted May 5, 2009 Author Report Posted May 5, 2009 We did notice that most others weren't quite as selective as us on Sunday...but hey, thats what the crappie are for. I don't think we'll ever fish them out.
Beans Posted May 5, 2009 Report Posted May 5, 2009 Good question Jer...We are kinda wonderin' the same thing...Crappieperchhunter and I tried boating to hunt for them and caught a bunch of blugills (big ones) but I blanked on the crappie and Steve caught a half dozen maybe (no size)...Nanook fished from shore and put us to shame...in one little spot he nailed a few good slabs...looked good on the old guy !!! I think the cold nights have sent them out onto the lake...we need the nightime temps around 10*C... Steve and I are going on a search mission today to check out a couple of areas we heard were producing well...got our fingers crossed...
mdej Posted May 5, 2009 Report Posted May 5, 2009 I don't think we'll ever fish them out. Never say Never
Flappn Posted May 5, 2009 Report Posted May 5, 2009 I 2nd the above notion. I have debated on saying this for a very long time but here we go. We fish a local lagoon on Simcoe annually in the spring targeting perch but you end up getting into Crappie, Bluegill and Perch. This area continues to get hammered day in and day out (7 days a week) with everything being kept and not discrimination to size or fish type....pails full of them. As I throw back a chunky Bluegill I get asked if by someone if they can have it.....I tell them to catch their own. I really truly do not believe...and I could be wrong that Simcoe or any other lake can with stand this kind of pressure for much longer. It is unreal and in my eyes excessive. I enjoy fishing for panfish in the spring and if in the future the population declines because if this exercise I can tell you I will not be impressed....that is a guarantee.
GoneFishin Posted May 5, 2009 Report Posted May 5, 2009 I 2nd the above notion. I have debated on saying this for a very long time but here we go. We fish a local lagoon on Simcoe annually in the spring targeting perch but you end up getting into Crappie, Bluegill and Perch. This area continues to get hammered day in and day out (7 days a week) with everything being kept and not discrimination to size or fish type....pails full of them. As I throw back a chunky Bluegill I get asked if by someone if they can have it.....I tell them to catch their own. I really truly do not believe...and I could be wrong that Simcoe or any other lake can with stand this kind of pressure for much longer. It is unreal and in my eyes excessive. I enjoy fishing for panfish in the spring and if in the future the population declines because if this exercise I can tell you I will not be impressed....that is a guarantee. I think the MNR should start enforcing there laws and regulations if they are going to have them. Its a 50 fish possession limit with your sports licence and you see the same guys filling their pails everyday of the week with every single fish they catch no matter the size. I also think the limit shouldn't be more then 10 or 20 fish max. We pay for a sport fishing license, that shouldn't allow some of us to realy impact a fishery. I think if your planning on keeping that many fish for consumtion you should have to purchase another license of some sort. I don't think it's sport fishing if you are just filling a pail.
sandmann Posted May 5, 2009 Report Posted May 5, 2009 I 2nd the above notion. I have debated on saying this for a very long time but here we go. We fish a local lagoon on Simcoe annually in the spring targeting perch but you end up getting into Crappie, Bluegill and Perch. This area continues to get hammered day in and day out (7 days a week) with everything being kept and not discrimination to size or fish type....pails full of them. As I throw back a chunky Bluegill I get asked if by someone if they can have it.....I tell them to catch their own. I really truly do not believe...and I could be wrong that Simcoe or any other lake can with stand this kind of pressure for much longer. It is unreal and in my eyes excessive. I enjoy fishing for panfish in the spring and if in the future the population declines because if this exercise I can tell you I will not be impressed....that is a guarantee. I've been by that spot your talking about and I totaly agree. I think theese people just dont care about how there bad fishing habits will eventually effect the lake, seeing this really makes me sick.
bushart Posted May 5, 2009 Report Posted May 5, 2009 I don't mind a feed of perch once a year---but 50! I don't want to clean 50 in a year never mind every day--maybe they're sellin them? Bushart
Beans Posted May 5, 2009 Report Posted May 5, 2009 Page 79 of the regulations for zone 16 (incls L. Simcoe) states: for a sport fishing licence 50 perch daily (possession 50 (exception L. Simcoe 100))...50 sunfish daily (possession 50)...30 crappie daily (possession 30)... How this converts into pails full, I don't know... I would like to see the same limits applied to zone 17 (Kawartha Lakes)...
Guest gbfisher Posted May 5, 2009 Report Posted May 5, 2009 (edited) I know a few spots that I used to drive by while going to Parry Sound. People used to line up shoulder to shoulder along side of the hwy with 2 or 3 pales full of Crappy. There are no Crappy anymore in those spots. Took 10 to 15 years. .....You can fish them out. Edited May 5, 2009 by gbfisher
Nanook Posted May 6, 2009 Report Posted May 6, 2009 (edited) Good question Jer...We are kinda wonderin' the same thing...Crappieperchhunter and I tried boating to hunt for them and caught a bunch of blugills (big ones) but I blanked on the crappie and Steve caught a half dozen maybe (no size)...Nanook fished from shore and put us to shame...in one little spot he nailed a few good slabs...looked good on the old guy !!! I think the cold nights have sent them out onto the lake...we need the nightime temps around 10*C... Steve and I are going on a search mission today to check out a couple of areas we heard were producing well...got our fingers crossed... "Looked good on the OLD Guy".......Watch ya tongue ya young PUP, your catcching me up Edited May 6, 2009 by Nanook
Greencoachdog Posted May 7, 2009 Report Posted May 7, 2009 "Looked good on the OLD Guy".......Watch ya tongue ya young PUP, your catcching me up Jack went fishing and caught fish???... Holy Hog Snot!!!... I shoulda bought lottery tickets that day!!! ... back to the topic, Yes, if there were 9 boats there "bailing" them... the school could've been fished out. ... but Crappie don't stay in one place all the time either, they will rove in suspended schools and follow the bait!
Jer Posted May 7, 2009 Author Report Posted May 7, 2009 Yes, if there were 9 boats there "bailing" them... the school could've been fished out. Well eight boats anyways...we only kept a dozen. I take your point though, we seemed to be on the "spot on the spot", if you know what I mean. It was only early afternoon when we left so god knows what happened after we were gone. As far as fishing them out of the lake, if I remember the FMZ-17 info meeting a couple weeks ago correctly, the MNR wants to expand the opportunity for crappie fishing around here. According to the biologist, crappie are here and here to stay. Controlling the numbers can only help the pickerel population.
ecmilley Posted May 7, 2009 Report Posted May 7, 2009 the unstable weather hasn't helped much the fish have tended to move out a little deeper but there still there i have been finding more fish in the 6-7 ft depths when i have had a chance to get out. crappies in the kawartha's are underutilized species and keeping pailfulls can only help the walleye,bass,perch, sunfish populations. Jer how you liking those silent armours? had the z-71 off roading with mine a coouple weeks ago never got stuck but "removed" a fog light and cracked the bumper cover
Garry2Rs Posted May 7, 2009 Report Posted May 7, 2009 I was on Stoney on Tuesday. The Crappie were on, or near the bottom. They weren't coming up for the jigs, so we took off the float and hopped the jig along to catch a few. It's still quite cool in the Kawarthas, I think a few warm nights would help the bite.
Jer Posted May 7, 2009 Author Report Posted May 7, 2009 Jer how you liking those silent armours? had the z-71 off roading with mine a coouple weeks ago never got stuck but "removed" a fog light and cracked the bumper cover The tires have been great, Ernie. I haven't put alot of miles on them yet, maybe a couple thousand km. Had no problems in the snow over the winter, I could drive in 2wd most of the time, any snow with my last set and it was 4x4 for sure. I did take a highway trip to London and back a few months ago in the truck and was pleasantly surprised how smooth and quiet they were for such an aggressive looking tread.
Beans Posted May 8, 2009 Report Posted May 8, 2009 (edited) Jack went fishing and caught fish???... Holy Hog Snot!!!... I shoulda bought lottery tickets that day!!! Ya Dawg...he uses his magic 50 year old UK quill float to detect the bite...you shudda seen the look on his face when he lost it on opening day...I thought he was going to cry...However the wind blew it back into shore where he retrieved it... Edited May 9, 2009 by Beans
fishermccann Posted May 8, 2009 Report Posted May 8, 2009 There should be no limit on Crappie when they are an invasive species in that lake. Get rid of them from where they don't belong, keep em all.
bbog Posted May 9, 2009 Report Posted May 9, 2009 There should be no limit on Crappie when they are an invasive species in that lake. Get rid of them from where they don't belong, keep em all. Tried to do my part but they were not co-operating so well today. Did catch quite a few but mostly small ones. Took some home including this big girl. Great day to be out.
Nanook Posted May 9, 2009 Report Posted May 9, 2009 Ya Dawg...he uses his magic 50 year old UK quill float to detect the bite...you shudda seen the look on his face when he lost it on opening day...I thought he was going to cry...However the wind blew it back into shore where he retrieved it... So whats up Glen................taking ya Nasty Pills regularly. Beans................ When the float came off, iit was like losing an old friend,glad I got it back. Jeeze, with "friends loke this, ya dont need enemies
Billy Bob Posted May 9, 2009 Report Posted May 9, 2009 Here in NYS we now have a 25 fish creel limit with 9" minimum length. That good fish management IMHO. My favorite lake "Chautauqua Lake" WAS fantastic for crappie years ago (fishing it for over 30 years) and it held up very well against tremendous pressure. However, the cottage association there started to spray the weeds along the shore line with Diaquat (sp) in the late '80's with the DEC permission. The loss of vegetation plus the chemicals really put a hurt on the fishing there. Two walleye clubs took on the DEC and the cottage association and got Diaquat banned after proving it was a dangerous chemical (you would think the DEC would of been on our side, but the cottage association had BIG MONEY). So the cottage association got another chemical from Texas call Aquathol K and used it for a couple of years until again the two walleye clubs got together for a second time and got that chemical banned. Now the cottage association has SEVERAL weed cutters on the lake and are cutting the weeds along the shore line DAILY which still kills the habitat of small (fry) fish, especially the crappie that spawn in those weeds. As you can guess the crappie fishing has NEVER been the same. Where at one time you could get a boat full of crappie, now you struggle to catch a meals worth. Bottom line is PROTECT the habitat of pan fish just like game fish or you lake will suffer. Bob
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