Size Selectivity of Crappie Angling

Abstract

Over 6,000 black crappies Pomoxis nigromaculatus and white crappies P. annularis were tagged in five lakes and reservoirs to quantify size selectivity of angling. Total length of fish tagged ranged from 20.0 to 39.8 cm; fish caught by anglers ranged from 20.0 to 38.8 cm. Return rates were low at lengths near 20 cm, increased gradually to a peak between 26 and 32 cm, and decreased for longer fish. This pattern was consistent among the five lakes and reservoirs and did not differ between species. Observed size-selective exploitation resulted in the lopsided removal of intermediate age-classes, thereby simulating a reversed slot length limit. Crappie population dynamics and fisheries can be severely affected if angling selectivity and exploitation are high. Management of crappies to favor desirable population characteristics may need to focus on enhancing or weakening the effect of size selectivity.