Am I getting senile or did crappie and sandbass used
to be no limits as to size and number in Texas ?

How long ago were limits introduced ?
MO

:edit:

You are correct. In the old days there was no size or bag limit on Crappie and Sandbass in Texas. About 25 years ago they put the current size and bag limits in place. Fishing is better today than it was before.

Yep White Bass and Crappie were any size and no limits on quantity.

When was limits introduced � that was when we realized � Man has no idea on how to self manage our resources, back when we thought there was no end to all this good CATHCIN � We all thought there must be an endless supply (and an - I'm going to get all mine attitude)!

But after seeing what has happened to our coast (Salt Water fisher man � keeping enormous amounts of fish _ WAY MORE THAN ANYONE SHOULD EVER KEEP) � we have learned � man will keep � WAY, WAY MORE THAN THEY NEED.

Limits have been introduced and have continued to go down through out my lifetime,

Here is the best rule of thumb � Keep what you need and release the rest (no matter what the limit is) � respect our fish and our sport � You do not need to keep every fish you catch - they do so much better in our lakes than our freezers,

when there was not a limit a couple of us would buy a pound of minnows and catch 100-135 nice crappie at lavon in about 5-6 hours. now i buy a couple of dozen and end up throwing some of those away most of the time. i'm either not as good of fisherman as i use to be or i should of been buying a couple of dozen back then and keeping 25-50 hindsight uh

There were probably more fish back in the day, but due to pressure, there may be less. I imagine the size of the fish has definitely got better with limits.

great advice, save some for our kids

Back in the late 60's when I was a kid a neighbor and his brother brought home over 200 sand bass of various sizes along with several bass and crappie from a one day trip. We were all very impressed and pleased to be treated to a fish fry the next day. One thing that I still remember is how they and some of the other neighbors spent hours cleaning fish. Anytime I fish and am doing well I ask myself how many fish do I want to fillet once I get home, the answer usually is just a few.

When they first came out with these limits, I couldn't freakin believe it. My thoughts were - On Sand Bass!?? Good grief, what in the world for??? I was also one of those guys who'd go out with a pound of small minnows and fill up a couple of large coolers with crappie in one night - by myself. Man I don't ever want to have to clean that many crappie by myself at one time - ever again!
But then I can't hop around on those rocks like a mountain goat any more either.

Fast forward to now, and I do think both the 10" minimum and the 25 daily bag limit was a good idea.

I think the cycles that lakes go through with crappie numbers and sizes can make it hard to see the big picture sometimes especially when you hit one or even a couple back to back years when a year class of predominate short fish has you catching 15 or 20 9-3/4" fish for every one over 10. Time after time after time.

But then when you can catch 10 or 15 in the 12 to 14 range and not have a single one under 10 it seems like it's all working. 25 is plenty for anyone as a limit and who really wants to clean more than 25 per person in one go round anyhow?

I'd actually like to see a limit put on Bluegill of 25 over 7" with no limit on any size smaller. At least on some lakes - and see if that helps produce more big ones. I bet it would.

I lived in Louisiana for a few years, and the crappie fishing here in Texas is better. Louisiana has no restrictions on crappie.

The fish over 10 inches are much better for family fish fries. You can filet them and get plenty of meat for people of all ages to enjoy. In Louisiana, you want to cook them whole, because they are so small.

When there is no limit, sure you come home with a cooler full, but that means you get to fish less often(due to a full freezer) and there is less sport involved and less big fish for sporting reasons.

Mo this may be what you were asking,


Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, 1004 East 26th Street, Bryan, Texas 77803, USA

RICHARD A. OTT JR.
Route 10, Box 1043, Tyler, Texas 75707, USA

Abstract

In 1985 harvest regulations on crappies Pomoxis spp. were changed from no limits to a 254-mm minimum-length and a 25-fish daily bag limit at three Texas reservoirs. The objective was to increase the proportion and relative abundance of large crappies and thereby increase harvest rate, yield, and mean weight of harvested fish. Changes in the stock structure and harvest of white crappies P. annularis were monitored after the limits were imposed. The proportion of stock-size (≥127 mm) white crappies that were of preferred size (≥254 mm) (RSD-P) increased significantly at Lake Palestine and Lake Meredith (where growth overfishing had occurred), and remained at acceptable levels at Lake Whitney (where growth overfishing did not occur). Mean weight of harvested white crappies increased at one of the two sites where RSD-P increased. Total yield (kg/ hectare) increased at all three reservoirs. Few anglers harvested 25 white crappies/d either before or after the limits were imposed. Results indicate minimum-length limits can alleviate growth overfishing. Where growth overfishing is not occurring, length limits can maintain yield in spite of increased pressure. In addition, a minimum-length limit may moderate or eliminate the variability or cyclicity inherent in crappie fisheries. By preventing harvest of small crappies, which are attractive to anglers only when abundance of larger fish is low, minimum-length limits may help maintain a more stable supply of preferred-size crappies.

OK , Yes, thats what I was looking for.

I moved to ETexas in '82. I grew up fishing Lake
Meridith, crappie fishing was off the chart when the lake
was new. I remember filling up the big wire baskets untill
they would not hold any more crappie. I remember Dad chunking
crappie at the opening of the basket. If they went in , ok,
if not , that was his form of catch and release.

thanks


MO

Yep that is why we needed to create limits � Man has NO IDEA WHAT IS ENOUGH�

MY dad did the same thing on Texoma � catching TONS OF CREPPIE up to 600 per night (Yep mainly Crappie) � AND WHAT A WASTE that was!

We use to go (with no limits � and not even determine how many we caught but � only measure that in how many pounds we caught � that was WAY WRONG � and back then we had not idea what resource management was all about).

Thank goodness TPWD step in and started making limits � and now we all know - we do not need to keep all the fish we catch � and now we know there are limits beyond our legal limits � that we should just keep what we need and release the rest � understanding this is just a sport and the more we have in the lakes the better.

My best fishing is always been in Catch and Release Lakes � it is so much better (I kind of wish it was all that way) � just keep what you need and release the rest - it�s just a sport and all about having fun,

Thanks for finding that Lakeman - good info there.

I'd be curious what TPWD's findings would be today regarding:

I'm mostly wondering if that stable supply of preferred-size crappies part has panned out to the extent they expected. My localized experiences don't really support that but I'll admit thats without any record keeping and just relying on a hazy memory suffering from advancing stages of CRS disease. I'd like to hear what other's experiences have been since the limits were imposed and what their thoughts are about the anticipated stable supply of preferred size crappies referenced above.

I still think the limits were an excellent idea. I can easily imagine how it might be today given all the added fishing pressure we now have if we'd kept on doing like some of us were doing back before the limits when we were a lot younger with not much thought of tomorrow. I'm not at all proud of what we did to the big Hybrids and Stripers in Ray Hubbard back before possession limits were placed on those guys. Too bad the damage was already done to that goldmine of really big ones. It was pretty shameful and those limits were surely a much needed thing. Same as crappie limits were/are needed. There's probably 10 to 20 times more people pounding that lake today than there was 25 years ago and it would probably be pretty dismal without those limits being in place. Thanks TPWD