Would we be trying to be proactive or would we be reacting with a change like this? Would you consider a stocking program as an alternative to reducing creel limits? I would need more information as to why there is a need for reduced creel limits before I could support it.

If we just want more bigger fish for tournaments, follow the bass guys lead and use a slot limit to increase the number of larger fish. If fishing pressure or poor water quality is reducing the overall number of fish then we could stock them or as you suggest lower the creel limit.

I'd support it if you can show me the evidence of its necessity. Fifteen fish is thirty fillets and a good fish fry. But I'm in no hurry to change things.

Ken, I tried to do some research on the subject and either the TPW is just not posting information or are very slow in doing so. The most recent I found on Cedar Creek Lake was done in 2008 and the one prior to that was several years earlier.
I'm no biologist and I definitely understand how proficient breeders crappie are. And fishing licenses are a very good indicator as well, certainly better than population increase.
Water for our growing cities is another topic that must be addressed.

Pressure is definitely the main issue. More and more people are catching more and more crappie and the average angler is much better at finding and catching fish with all the new technology. There is a finite number of crappie since we have the same amount of water now as we did 20-30 or 40 years ago. I don't see that changing at all in my lifetime here in Tx.
Course I'm over 70 yo and don't have that long to go.
LOP has no size limit and a lot of pressure, especially this time of year.
A guide that I know told me he would not go back this season due to the lack of production and he is as good as they come.
I also know this is not the first time the issue has been put to the forum and my main purpose in starting it again is to have the discussion we are having. And, I am very happy that the responses have been positive instead of just of just name calling and trivial BS!
TPW will decide in the long run if they feel it's needed. But, I don't see any reason we can't all do our part in conserving this great natural resource.
If we all just keep what we want to eat we are heading in the right direction.
Allowing caught fish to die or catching them to give friends or family, in my opinion is a waste of the resource. But, that's just me and I certainly respect everyone's opinion.

There has been several lakes built since 1970, so there arent more people fishing on the same amount of water, but I do agree on part of what you are proposing, I would like to see the limit come down to 15 or 20, but would hate it if they raised the minimum length to 12" the perfect fillet to me, is from those 11" - 12" fish.

Lets say for a lake like Joe Pool, which i know everyone knows about the specials in there, how would this be a benefit to that lake? It seems to me that all those specials need to be caught out in order for there to be a chance to catch larger ones. Not the opposite. There may be a lake or two here and there that this would be a benefit for. If so make the change for that lake just like they do for bass. There doesn't have to be a blanket rule for all lakes.

By the way at your lake on CC all I see are huge crappie and large numbers caught out of there on a regular basis. It doesn't seem to have had an affect over the years on that lake.

Take a look at Lake Grenada in Mississippi. 15 fish and 12" min and it's the 3lb mecca.

We all know the State and Federal bureaucrats know a heck of a lot more about managing Crappie and Sand Bass than any of fisherman with an ounce of common sense.

I'm all for some 3 lb mecca fishing! If that guarantees it then i wouldn't be opposed to it. what lakes in texas are capable of producing lots of 3 lb fish?

I don't believe that analogy holds water (pun intended). Different geo and many other factors. Just look at the difference already cited about LOP, say versus metroplex and central TX.

I haven't fished Fork for that long, but I remember when I got a white bass the locals didn't believe me. I agree as earlier poster said that has had an effect of Fork for crappie. There is only so much forage to go around. For all our lakes, I believe the biologists are best able to determine creel and size for ALL anglers, not just those of us with a boat, on the lake, bank fish only, or seasonal, etc.

Personally, other than for tournament fishing, I release any large crappie above 1.75 lbs. I started this last year but there again, I don't catch that many anyway but I just think that helps the gene pool. If I fished seldom, I would probably keep all legal because I simply wouldn't have that many chances. I have now caught enough crappie that I am not so insecure that I have to be macho and show it to everyone, but that's just me. I don't have any problem if anyone feels different. I'm happy we have an abundance of lakes to choose from with most having good crappie fishing.

I think illegal netting has a huge impact for all fish species.

I fish the crappie house on Lake Eddelman/Graham and if you raised the size limit to 12"
we probably wouldn't keep over a dozen fish a week. In our case there are probably a 100
crappie under 12" caught for everyone that is over that. We have a lot of crappie just
under the 10" limit now. With the 10" limit we still catch more unders than overs.

Johnny

i don't post much but when we didn;t have a limit we go crappie fishin we would buy a pound of minnows catch 120-145 fish all good size. now buy 2 dozens and dont use those have i lost my mojo and we didnt waste those fish would go fire dept sit up have big fish fry even have other stations over am still ask why we don;t do that anymore. maybw we caught them all

So now you want to take one of the best eating fish in Texas and treat it like a bass. Crappie are not sport fish they are panfish. As in frying pan. You need to start yur catch and release before your freezer gets so full that you cannot eat them.

why not do a slot limit 12 to 14 over and under keep with a 10" min

This subject obviously hits close to home for me and www.BigCrappie.com Guide Service. My thoughts are this. Before any opinions should be made we should look at real data about the crappie population, fisherman success rate & each individual lake crappie populations. Some lakes are going to have more crappie per acre than others, & some are going to grow them bigger than others.

I once read a report that a state agency "I think Kentucky or Tennessee", put together about this very subject. They determined that the average angler kept 4 crappie per trip and that they would have to lower the limit to 5 crappie per day to make a difference in the population. They also discussed the length limit and determined that it would only hurt the average fisherman's ability to keep fish. Obviously the average fisherman isn't the guy that buys a new $2k graph and spends hours on TFF learning & perfecting his skills. They are talking about averaging all the people that catch none to the guy that always catches his limit. It doesn't take too many zero's to bring the average way down.

I am all in favor of bringing the population of crappie way up however, I feel like our biggest problem is water. When the lakes are full the fish have excellent spawning grounds. When the lake is low they don't, when its low the fish still spawn but there eggs have a much higher mortality rate.
Maybe if TPWD would let us we could have a fundraiser and stock a couple hundred thousand crappie per year in the lake. Wouldn't hurt to ask.

I'd donate a couple hundred dollars Chuck.

I would assume lower keep limits would hurt the guide business. I agree that "I think" or "I feel" statments are meaningless. Give me hard, researched data, and I would look at it. Until then I wouldn't push for any change without evidence that it would be in the best interest of everyone involved.