How are the Crappies in Willard??

[joevanoni]

Has any one been fishing for the Crappies in Willard.??
Its been years since I last tried for them But I remember they were big and plentyfull.
But a few years ago, At any fishing hole, can change what you can and cant catch. Thanks Joe WGF
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[HD7000]

There are some big ones to be had! We caught this 15" hog while trolling for wipers a couple weeks ago! As far as I know, they haven't grouped up in the marinas to spawn yet...
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[happybob91]

what a monster! I will be going up north in three weeks to specifically target crappie, and am hoping to have some luck. I will be fishing at Pineview first, however if that's a bust I hope Willard crappies will be closing in. Last year I went to Willard I got skunked hoping to catch some, but we'll see what happens this year.
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[FishSlayerJT]

when they are in the marina, you can kill it. Just look out for the bucket brigade standing shoulder to shoulder, thats when you want to be there. small jig under a bobber just off the shore.. yes they get that big. Blew my mind also.. state record is over 18. Crazy! And they fight harder than trout.
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[perchound]

Willard can be a great place for crappie, however it does get fished extremely hard by many every year and we need to remember to try and let the big females go back. I know it's hard to do but if everyone doesn't do this it will end up like PV. Please be do your part in preserving our crappie fisherie. That's just my 2 cents!
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[Ktrout]

[quote perchound] we need to remember to try and let the big females go back. I know it's hard to do but if everyone doesn't do this it will end up like PV. [/quote]

Just out of curiosity, why would keeping big female crappie make willard like pineview? There are tons of crappie in Pineview.
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[kenneth.cotner]

Yes there are crappie in PV but few and far between and there is no good size to them. We ice fish it every year and all crappie go back because they are just too small. The perch are the same for the most part but at least you can get a meal out of the perch. I am not sure if the muskie have a hand in that or not. Willard on the other hand is fished so hard, (Bucket BDE mainly) but if we don't return most if not all the females in a few years we won't be fishing for good crappie, plus you continue to return the females we will see another record. I love fishing too much to just take fish because and when I can do my part to help it I feel that much better. Just my .02
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[Ktrout]

What's your rationale for why you only catch small crappie? The crappie are small because there are too many of them in Pineview. I understand the concept of putting back fish for propagation purposes. But putting them back in Pineview won't help you catch bigger fish.
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[HD7000]

Aaah, but does putting back crappie in PV help you catch bigger muskie? Lol
I agree 100% overcrowding and lack of food creates small fish. Biologists put limits for a reason. Should the bucket brigade that brings multiple bucketful's to the cars per day be reported? Of course! But throwing back crappie isn't going to give us a state record.
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[doggonefishin]

[quote Ktrout] The crappie are small because there are too many of them in Pineview. I understand the concept of putting back fish for propagation purposes. But putting them back in Pineview won't help you catch bigger fish.[/quote]

Exactly!

Maybe the reason that people catch large crappie from Willard is because of harvest and more food for the adult survivors. (FWIW, there are other reasons too, such as reduced spawning success due to competition crappie fry have for food resources with other fish)

Crappie lakes are far more likely to become overpopulated and stunted than be fished out.
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[RockyRaab]

Logic ought to tell us that if the population is stunted due to too many fish, putting females back is exactly the opposite of a cure.

When a population is balanced and healthy, releasing the large breeders makes sense. But not when there is overpopulation.

Willard is in pretty good shape because it has a good population of different predators as well as a good prey base.

Pineview is oversupplied with prey species right now. What anglers ought to be doing is not releasing but keeping every legal fish allowed, regardless of size.
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[Springbuck]

Kenneth, I hope you don't feel ganged up on....[laugh]

I ice fish at PV as much as I do anywhere and it has changed a ton, in just the last two years. The crappie have been small, with a FEW big ones here and there for years, but they are getting bigger fast. I caught a couple limits this year of 10"-ers, which I know isn't big, but the year before I was catching perch and 5" potato chips. This year, not a single perch in 5 trips. They dropped off the map.

I am not a biologist, of course, but to my understanding, keeping the smaller limit occasionally at Willard will keep those crappies from overpopulating, but if the regular 50 fish limit applied, it'd fish out fast. At PV, I say keep your catch because overpopulation is the danger, and we want em to thin out a little and grow.

15-17 years ago, when I was a student at Weber, the crappie fishing in PV was right where it is now: lots and lots of small fish. I remember rarely catching perch back then, but crappie all over the place, all spring. Then the muskies got planted, and in two years I went from catching 100 skinny 9" fish a day, to catching 15-20 fat 11-12"-ers. Well, there aren't as many muskies now, so we have to help.
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