In my opinion you should have the same rules for all the N. Texas lakes that exist on Fork. But my opinion is not worth so the best thing to do is return them to the water, knowing they will die when you do this.

However, allowing people to keep deep hooked fish that might die when released opens up a different can of worms. I would suspect you might as well eliminate minimum size limits if you allow this loophole. But I have already told you what my opinion is worth.

Darrell, I told you to quit using them minners and getting them crappie gut hooked!

Lots of interesting comments. A few years ago a doe was hit and killed by a vehicle in front of my house late one night. I found her fawn in the ditch the next morning covered in fire ants and nearer death than life. We fed it a formula called Mothers Milk we purcheased at the local feed store and nursed it back to health. A few months later the GW spotted our grandson and the deer playing chase in the yard. He informed me he would be by later that afternoon and that the deer had better be gone. I told him of how we came to have the deer. His reply was it should have been left to die, let nature take its course. Point of my story; this is how a GW will look at it be it fish or deer. Throw it back or leave it where you find it.

Fillet him and let the turtles take care of fixing his eye problems

Would you rather keep an 8 inch fish or a 12 to14 incher?

Keeping 25 fish that are under 10 inches doesn't effect the breeders like keeping those in the 14 inch range.

Good question. Google the subject on crappie air bladder venting and you'll find the location and how to puncture. No under sized fish in your live well and they live in MOST cases. Might need to change it up or move if all youre gettin is underlimit fish from that deep.

There are multiple ways to adjust a fish's air bladder to correct the issue of bringing up a fish too fast from deep depths. You could have researched them all on the web and understood them in the time you spent posting this poll question. If you're truly concerned for the fish and not simply wanting an excuse to keep illegal fish; do the research.

A gm must obey and enforce the law as written. If he allows his personal opinion to hold sway he can be in serious legal trouble. And if he provides an opinion that conflicts with the law and somebody posts his opinion in an open forum such as this, he has serious problems with his superiors.

So a smart gm will always tell you to obey the law and will not provide any alternatives to obeying that law.

I think you are being a little bit harsh here.

The law recognizes these methods do not always work. This is why you must keep all crappie caught at Fork and LP during certain periods of the year.

Nothing will help gut hook fish if you are using a jig or lure. And I'm not sure cutting the line and leaving the hook, lure or jig in the fish will help a gut hooked fish survive.

Recognizing the problem and discussing the problem in forums such as this can be the first step in getting the problems resolved.

And if the law is changed to reflect the reality that these fish are going to die if released, then the fish are no longer illegal to keep.

Having said this, I prefer not to keep small fish. I only keep five crappie from each fishing trip and would hate to be told I must keep five small crappie instead of being allowed to keep larger fish. If I was forced to keep small crappie then I would need to keep more that five to have enough to make a meal.

Fizz the fish and he'll live. I do it all the time in the winter.

Strait from the TPWD website: Edible condition: Fit for human consumption, but does not include any portion of a game bird, game animal, or fish that is bruised ("bloodshot") by a bullet, shot, or arrow; otherwise destroyed as a result of harvest; decayed or rotting; or obviously infected or diseased.
Nowhere in the definition of edible does it say anything about size.
I would assume and have always followed that the best thing to do is just throw a short fish back, but this is definitely a gap in the regulations and should be addressed. Makes me wonder how many people have been ticketed for keeping a short fish that would've died.Unfortunately like someone has previously posted this could also start a huge problem for people who take advantage of the law.

Good Day EZgoing,

My apologies for coming across harsh that was not my intent. I am a firm believer in doing whatever is necessary to protect the resource. In this case, we are talking about a lake's crappie population. I am of the opinion that if it is necessary to do this, the governor authority(s) should outlaw catching crappie at certain times under certain conditions if doing otherwise puts the fish at risk of being injured or killed.

As anglers, the most important issue above all others should be protecting the species for the best future sustainable harvest. The laws are best written by fresh fish specie biologist who have study what to do to sustain a species in a given lake, not anglers who are not knowledgable of what's going on from one ecosystem to the other.

I am on your side completely in standing up against lawmakers who might be writing such laws from an uneducated vantage.

I apologize for coming across harsh; I was just offering my opinion. I believe as anglers we all need to focus on protecting the species first before considering how it effects our creels.

Respectfully,

Sounded like common sense to me. If you care educate yourself. We aren't reinventing the wheel. Fizz the fish and know you did your best.

I'm no sugar coater of the truth either. Maybe a fishing education class like the hunters education class. Hmmmm

If someone takes the fishing education comment to heart your to sensitive and self involved. I meant for all just like the hunters education class. Then all proceeds could be contributed to address some of the concerns stated threw out this thread.

I found this video on Youtube from the TPWD on fizzing...interesting for sure