I released a 2 1/2 pound female crappie Sunday that was obviously packed full of eggs. My buddies call me "NUTS"! What do you guys/gals out there do as a rule?

Carry a cheap camra.

I agree with Mark .Sure makes you feel good dont it.Now she will make you about 100000 babies to catch.Darrell

I agree, we need more of that, I know in the Lake I fish, the crappie are fished hard, so the more that are released with eggs, the better..

X4!!! Way to think of the future crappie population Leverage. Maybe this is something TP&WD needs to consider.

Exactly,Not everyday anyone gets to see one that size.


Also to heck with your buddies teasing it is what it is ...teasing,maybe some envy....
You did what you thought is the way you want to act and did it.
Ought be good enough.

I'm with ya!!! Let them lay their eyes and then keep um.
Wayner

I 5x that. This time of year I try to only keep males. I�m not very good at telling the difference but if their gut looks like it has EEGs I�ll let them go.

This time of year, I usually catch enough black bass as a by catch that allows me to release all the crappie and just keep the bass.

After re-reading an article in Crappie World, I have a different opinon now. I read that the males are the ones that should be released or don't take too many of them because they're the ones who protect the eggs once they're laid. Do what you feel when it comes to "releasing legal sized fish" is the way I feel about that.

I was fishing w/ T-Dub yesterady as he had a slow start...
Not to be outdone by anyone...he made sure he landed a 2#plus by end of outing. Sure enough..that was the case. Only he turned around and released her back in the water. One peck on the lips and offered the sacrifice to the Crappie God...hahaha...
That was awsome!!! Nutting wrong w/ that...we all have plenty of crappie to eat when need be...Just do what you feel is right for you at such time should be the rule of thumb.

I was testing my whimpy rods out yesterday and lost 2 monsters on top of the water by trying to lift them instead of reaching down to caress them. Oh well, I lost the battle, but still won the war!

I promised myself that I would bend down on my two knees and bow on a 3#plus as I would lift her out of the water and display her proudly on my wall when I am lucky enough to hang on one.

Nothing was legit since I didn't land this one fish yesterday, but one potential one got off and caused the rod tip to hit the low ceiling and broke my G-Loomis Drop Shot rod yesterday evening. No harm done as I vowed to retaliated on the MONSTROUS SLABS with a vengence....hahahahahha

Clyde got that right. Another thing is overpopulation. I always heard if you have too many it will keep the general size down. That shouldn't be a problem with all the large lakes we have now compared to the smaller ones from 50 years ago. I will release them if I don't have enough worth cleaning or if I'm just out for fun because I have too many in the freezer.

What came first....the egg or the male crappie?

I look at it this away. If you have fish in the freezer and don't need anymore then let them go. I might keep three or four if I am going to fry up some fresh fish that night. I like to keep them in the livewell and then when done fishing take a quick pic and let them go at my dock.

Interesting question, but what good is/are the egg/eggs if there's no one around to protect it/them? I guess this is an endless debate, but I would think a lake could get away with taking more females with eggs that didn't lay them than taking males after the eggs have been laid. Maybe doing either ends up with the same result.