thats a great point as ALOT of people got into fishing during the height of the pandemic. its one of the few fun things folks had to do, while being able to maintain a distance from others. many of these people who had never got much into fishing are now lifetime enthusiasts.
So much so it created a tackle shortage that has never caught up to demand.

yes fishing pressure, and it is increased dramatically when only the piles that have fish on them are CONSTANLY targeted.
before livescope, a fisherman would go from pile to pile to pile, sampling, spending maybe 15, 20 minutes on each spot. in the back of thier mind, they are going thru the age old questions.. 1 are they here but not biting, 2 are there none here..
So the fisherman had to spend ALOT more time fishing each pile, until they got to one that was productive..
Now its drop the scope, take a look, if theres fish , drop the hook.. if the fish arent active, its off to the next one.,
this is tremedous pressure , whereas the spots holding the fish are almost constanly harrassed. JMO

Every fish biologists will tell you crappie have to be harvested to prevent them from over populating.....

yes, ive been told the same thing, but your getting this info based on an assumption only..
the biologist have no clue how many crappie are on any lake in texas,
I used to fish a lake called stillhouse hollow and it was fair .. over the years it became horrible, and nothing is done to get the crappie back in there thriving.. TPWD will not stock it, or any other lake with crappie.
The biologist I spoke with abt this lake said it was due to lack of nutrients flowing into the lake as it is a clear, deep lake.
my opinion is that it was the frequent flooding that destroyed spawning grounds because when the lake floods it pulls ALOT of current thru it. if it lacked nutrients, then why were the crappie thriving several years before?
The why is not as important though, whats important is that nobody is going to do anything abt it.
Larger lakes that are thriving and have great spawns year to year wont be affected as much as smaller lakes I think.
Granger lake is another example, but different circumstances.. nutrient rich , relatively stable, but is full of small crappie.
you have to catch 20 to get one 10 inch fish,., this points to overharvesting and fishing pressure. it used to be great but for the last 5 or 6 years, this is how its been, and nothing is done about it..
biologist tend to say, the reason is theres good years and bad years,, but they will be ALRIGHT.,
I think that if the biologist teamed up with fishing guides, and rode around, sampling different locations by using livescope and rod and reel, it could give them a better idea of the crappie population on a lake. being crappie tend to relate to cover and structure, I think helpful data could be collected year to year on approximate fish populations..
If a guide has 300 spots marked on a lake, that are known crappie hangouts, and 30 are randomly sampled,. this could give an idea of the population. log books of catches by guides would be a great way to monitor as well.
I spoke with a white bass guide in central texas many years back,, he is a very successful guide and does it full time. he is a catch and release guide service.. you cannot keep fish on his trips. I asked why he does this, and the reply was " when you let clients keep hundreds of fish day after day after day, you are cutting your own throat'.. he explained to me that the clients for the most part, just want to go on an excursion, they want to feel that tug on thier line, and have a fun positive experience with friends or family. the clients you want are not the ones trying to fill the freezer, its the ones who want knowledge and fun.
The clients he takes out have more of a conservationist mindset, professional background, and are usually well to do, respectful., generous clientele. They appreciate being able to take thier kids out and watch thier faces light up, when catching fish after fish
I thought abt this.. it really makes alot of sense. its his business and he can run it his way.
theres no reason a crappie guide cannot make thier own rules. A guide could say, heres how I run my trips.. I allow a 10 fish limit per client. This is my livelyhood, my passion and im doing my part to insure that you and your family will have a great time CATCHING fish, if you want a freezer full of fish, tilapia is cheap, and Heb has plenty.

. I think the majority of clients would understand and respect this standard,
if you ever talk to an adult who doesnt fish, ask them why
heres what you will likely get from them
well when I was a kid, my dad took me a few times, and we really didnt catch anything,, it was boring and not fun, so we didnt go anymore.


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The increase in fisherman is the bigger picture

Great discussions.
Here's one more to think of - Cedar Creek is an amazing Crappie Lake. It has at least 4 to 5 full time guides working it for Crappie. If they are not Crappie fishing they are building or adding brush to their brush piles. Big Crappie.com has over 1,000 brush piles, they keep track of and try not to fish the same brush pile for at least 2 weeks apart. Year after year that place just keeps producing and it gets hammered year around with Crappie fishing. If a lake was going to show any signs of Livescope being detrimental it would be on Cedar Creek as it has so many fisherman on any given day - Much more than one of the Army Core of Engineers lake such as Ray Roberts. In the cool parts of the year it's such a great dock shooting lake. The bridges and brushpiles in the warm months are fantastic.