Females Bursting with eggs, go back. 16 inch crappie get a pic and go back, if my client allows that, but I always urge it. Lavon at least.....

+1
But in them ponds I stay at 11in and limit to 6.
I see to often 2 guys come in and take out limits and back the next day doing the same.
Lake game on.

Well if it makes the 10inch rule, its going to the grease!!! But thats just me and there are a lot of respectable and well thought out opinions on this thread.

x2, CPR unless they hit the 3lb mark, then they get the wall

We usually keep everything that is legal, except females over 14". We have a responsibility to take care of our valued customers, but also our precious resource.

When I was guiding I would encourage my clients to release the larger fish. Most of them wouldn't, as in most cases, a crappie over 1 1/2# was the largest crappie they had ever seen, and wanted to take them home. I personally only keep crappie for the freezer in the Fall or Winter time of the year. Face it guys, it's a matter of vanity. Catching a big fish or a limit of fish and bringing them into the dock, or taking pics that you will later post, is just natural....that is, until you get over the phase of having to show others that you can catch fish. I use to do the same thing. Bottomline, let 'em all go unless you really need the meat.

I used to believe you could not catch enough to hurt the crappie population. But that was back in the day when everyone fished with two minnows on a "crappie rig". Now that we have electronics and have learned to catch fish so well I am absolutely sure that we are depleting the resource.

The larger crappie are caught early and towards the last of the season most of the fish are small. There is no excuse for taking home a possession limit just because it is legal. Killing Passenger Pigeons was legal in the early twentieth century. They were present in flocks in the billions according to reputable sources, but they were hunted to extinction. The last Passenger Pigeon died in 1914. Do you really want some future historian to document that the last Crappie died in the twenty first century?

Take home enough for a family dinner and throw the others back.

I only eat crappie who practice abstinence. They taste pure.

I've got a question. How does anyone know that the big 2lb+ fish actually spawn at that age? They are pretty old in crappie years and I have a hard time believing that they are as frisky as the 10 inchers. Why keep the males? You can't have more crappie without the males. Doesn't make sense to release females and take the males off the bed.

Guy... this is me. I'm still new to crappie fishing and haven't even been much in the last year or so due to growing family, time constraints, golden algea, etc. I LOVE to post a pic of a good mess of fish, then have a bunch of people say "way to go Craigo." Then I feel helpful to folks when they want all the details and I share them. It's vanity, ego, pride and a bunch of other superlatives I can't think of... and I sure do love it!

me and you both. if my catches harmed the population, the lake has bigger problems.

A female crappie "bursting" with eggs is useless if there is no male crappie full of .... you get the idea.

I keep both male & female crappie. It's not very often that I've taken home a limit of crappie.During the spawn I usually fish from the bank or friends boat house.An average day would be 12-20 fish.

I always throw the 4 pound plus back

I will keep 10-12 to eat. If I already have some in the freezer I will release all fish caught. I do believe that big Crappie do pass the size gene on when they spawn and will release them. Nothing is immune to over harvest and eventually the limit will change to a lower amount. It pains me to see a guy walk out with a limit day after day during the spawn. I know he is doing nothing against the law, but for some reason it just seems like a waste to me.

I think this is the longest post I ever had. Sorry.