Crappie fishermen are excited about the return of their favorite fish at Clear Lake. The past two weeks has seen a resurgence of this tasty fish and fishing will only get better as we go into the winter months.
Right now the best action can be found near the docks at Kono Tayee and at Shag Rock, but the crappie will spread out in the coming weeks to some of the more popular areas like the docks at Konocti Harbor Resort and Spa and Redbud Park.
Clear Lake holds some monster crappie with 2- and 3-pounders being common. In fact, some crappie experts claim there could be a new state-record or even a world -record crappie swimming around in the lake.
The lake has two species of crappie ? the white crappie and the black crappie. The species of crappie can be identified by counting the number of spines on its dorsal fine. A white crappie will have six spines and the black crappie will have seven to eight spines.
Normally the black crappie is considered to be slightly larger of the two, although both can grow to some enormous sizes. The current world record for black crappie is 6 pounds and was caught in Louisiana in 1969. The world record for white crappie is 5 pounds, 3 ounces and it came from Mississippi in 1957.
The California record for black crappie is 4 pounds, 1 ounce and was caught in New Hogan Lake in 1975. The state record for white crappie is 4 pounds, 8 ounces and was caught right here in Clear Lake in 1971 by Carol Cooper of Lakeport (her name was Carol Carlton in 1971).
Cooper caught the crappie on April 29, 1971 while fishing with a cane pole and a crappie jig from the bridge in the lagoon at Willow Point in Lakeport. She kept the fish in the bucket full of water for three days before getting it weighed and certified by the Department of Fish and Game (DFG). Biologists said that the fish probably lost a good deal of weight while in the bucket.
At first, Cooper planned on filleting the fish and eating it but later decided on having it weighed. The fish was mounted and displayed for several years in a tackle shop at the Willow Point Resort. Eventually the tackle shop closed and mount disappeared. Last year it was learned that the the fish was in the possession of Earl Ferguson of Roseville.
Three years ago I weighed a 4-pound crappie that a fisherman caught from a dock in the Lakeport area and every year there are reports of a crappie weighing 4 pounds or more caught in the lake. But most of these weights are unverified.
Unlike a new world record largemouth bass that would bring the lucky angler more than a million dollars in endorsements, the next world-record crappie will probably mean only a short story in most of the major fishing magazines and a few newspapers. But that doesn”t mean it wouldn”t be just as important. In fact, in the southern states there are major crappie fishing tournaments where fishermen can win thousands of dollars. There are even specially designed crappie boats and crappie rods and reels.
Crappie aren”t native to Clear Lake or even California. It is believed that the first black crappie came from Meredosia, Ill. in 1908 and were planted in Clear Lake. The white crappie were stocked in the lake in 1951.
The crappie fishery reached its peak in Clear Lake in the 1960s when resorts were built around the lake to accommodate the fishermen. The fish was so popular that most of the resorts had crappie cleaning machines where you would put a quarter in the machine, toss in your catch and the fish would come out scaled and ready for the frying pan. Fishermen from around California flocked to Clear Lake just to catch this popular fish. By the 1980s the crappie fishery basically crashed and the boom was over.
The current daily and possession limit for crappie is 25. Every year the DFG game wardens cite a number of fishermen for having more than the limit. The fine for having too many crappie can be as much as $1,000.
Terry Knight can be reached at tknight3021@sbcglobal.net or by calling (707) 263-1699. Letters intended for publication that respond to Mr. Knight”s column can be sent to news@clearlakeobserver.com.
