Before you decide to throw them back rather than eating them? We caught a 15+” and I’m wishing I’d thrown it back. What’s your rule of thumb?

Its personal choice. Does it make a difference in the fish population/gene pool, no. I prefer to eat the 10-11 inchers myself.

The ideal eaters to me are 11- to 12-inchers, especially those chunky black fish.

Crappie are prolific breeders. I wouldn’t worry about releasing crappie over a certain length. It will have little to no effect on the population. If it’s a keeper, keep it. Or if it makes you feel good to release the larger fish, you can do that too.

I'm no biologist, but I have to believe a 15" fish is nearing the end of it's life cycle. I also prefer the 10-11" fish for eating.

I am a wildlife biologist. The decision to keep big fish depends on your management goals. I would release fish over 15” to give other anglers a chance at catching a big fish. If you want to keep them that is ok too. Every time I release a big fish I hope I am giving another angler the chance to catch a fish of a lifetime.

I would say that a crappie has reached the end of its lifecycle when it swims near that big yellow boat.

But I am also not a biologist.

I usually throw back the 15 t. Just my two cents.

I only keep Crappie 12"s or longer. To me, it just has more meat on each fish at that size. I'm retired and usually keep 12-14 crappie per trip.

By releasing the 10-11" fish, I figure I'll probably catch them again next year. Kind of shallow of me to think like that but I catch plenty of fish anyway, so no pressure.

If I don't end up with a mess I don't have to filet fish......lol.

I will only keep 10 inch fish if they are pretty thick. Normally I only keep 12 inch plus fish unless I just need fish for a fish fry.

11" & 12" are the gooder eaters. Throwing back anything I have to get the measuring stick out for and anything I think is a big'un.

I like to keep 6-12 fish 11" or better. Will also keep 10" if deep hooked or gill damaged. If I'm doing good, I will bump up to over 12" as a minnimu. Dont like to clean a lot of fish and would much rather keep larger only. Also, we rarely fry fish, and bigger ones bake and steam much better IMHO.

Bigger ones also cook up mega tasty, on the grill, seasoned with the skin on. Grill in foil with your choice of seasoning, then take out of foil and grill skin side down, to char it a little, and the meat will flake right off.

Yummy!

NOw this is Funny!!