Fish-Hawk.Net

You had that right on cue J!..

Now if I go back to Tip-up's comment about size...makes me wonder...Lake of the Woods...16 inch crappies.....what about here??....is there such a thing swimming around??????????????????????????.or maybe one day perhaps?..this is the 1 000 000$ question right there. It rings bells in my head for sure ..just like the story that Thorpe told me once about that 10+ largie that was caught in a net by biologists back in 96 on the Ottawa in Papineauville (Baie de la Pente Cote).Well the interesting thing is this; Some people have introduced crappies illegally in many bodies of waters in recent years (in lakes mostly). Maybe some of the environment they've been put in might be just right to push them up to this size in the future?....who knows! Crappies are very tough fish and they adapt easily. It's becoming a more and more popular fish for example Karl is doing the Crappie Kings series...I see this fish going places in the future because there is just this something special about them when it comes to sport fishing!

Can we get to 16"? Personally I have my doubts. I've heard the "stories" of yesteryear from guys who claim 15 and 16 inchers every day.

I'm in search of a true 15 incher. Laid on the tape, mouth closed 15 inches. I've seen too many eyeballed 15's... I've bumped into 13 fish in all my days (probably too many) targetting Crappie that were over 14 inches. Lately I've spent a ton of time on lakes that most people don't even know they have Crappie in them (so ZERO fishing pressure) and still cant find a 15.

I dunno, maybe it's just me...

RJ

Well ''J'' I will try some crappie lakes this year and see what I can come up with ..on the tape!

RJ wrote:Can we get to 16"? Personally I have my doubts. I've heard the "stories" of yesteryear from guys who claim 15 and 16 inchers every day.
snipped
I dunno, maybe it's just me...

RJ

RJ
I don't spend as much time as you on the crappie, I'm around 150-200 caught each spring, with all but my limit released.
My PB is 14" (with lips closed )

I am certain there are 16's or better out there, a 17" from Lake Erie holds the Ontario record now.

How old would you guess a 14-16" crappie be?

10 to 13 years I think.....but my question would be how long it takes for them to get there?....do they get there after 7-8 years...then do they remains like this for another 2 or 3?.....the growing rate should be different I think depending on the body of water and the food source they can rely on. If you take a look at Lake of the woods on the maps...it is not further South from us......so there is a chance I think that one day the combination of a few factors might produce some 16-17 inchers somewhere around Ottawa...who knows!.... I will be on some lakes after them this year ..will see how it goes....never know!

Maybe crappie are like me. Grew vertically for a number of years, than switched to horizontal growth.

toobinator wrote:Maybe crappie are like me. Grew vertically for a number of years, than switched to horizontal growth.

ShawnD wrote:How old would you guess a 14-16" crappie be?

Nice!..8 years to get to 12 inch......another 4 to 5 years to get an extra 2!...interesting!..I thought so.

RJ wrote:

Big Bass 444 wrote:All good dude!....Man! was actually thinking about this Old timer status I gave myself just now!...Gee!..been a long time!..I had hair back in 03 and I was running around the bay with a chain of bass!! ...I even wonder if Chevy was born yet? ....Rob was dreaming of Shimano at the time ...Andrew and Anthony looked like they were 11 .....those were the days man!..time flies for sure!!!

Kindly guys!

Those were the days you were putting 5 lb McBay Largies on a stringer to drag em all back to the dock for a pic...

Chevy was still putting hockey cards in his bike spokes to be cool...

The ABC's were 11...

Shimano for me? Yup. Worked out OK.

We've all come a long way!

RJ

not a whole lot has changed! that bike sounds SWEET
those are some wicked fish Yan! cant wait to hit the slabs again soon they have been on fire this year!!

Wow those are absolute monsters man, right on!! I've been searching for a 14+ for years, i can't wait to target them in the spring!

Here's one that was recently posted elsewhere. A good 16" and bang on two pounds. OP was considering getting it mounted, which he finally decided to do.
Cheers

Local fish?

Thanks very much for this post. Crappies through the ice are something I have NOT figured out........

Doug