The crappie fishing at Clear Lake has drawn statewide attention. Thousands of the little fish are being caught daily. In fact, old-timers say they haven’t seen anything like this is years. The big question is are too many crappie being removed from the lake by unscrupulous fishermen?
A recent trip to Clear Lake State Park revealed that on a typical day at least 800 crappie are being caught and kept. Dozens of fishermen have lined the shore and are keeping every crappie they catch, regardless of size. The same thing is happening at Library Park in Lakeport and The Harbor in Nice. In fact, crappie are being caught all around the lake in huge numbers.
There is a concern that removing so many crappie from the lake will have an impact on the fishery. The daily limit for crappie is 25 and this is also the possession limit. What is happening is that entire families, which often include the husband, wife and several youngsters, are all catching and keeping crappie. For example, a family of five can legally retain 125 crappie a day. According to the game wardens, many of these crappie being sold to restaurants in the Bay Area, which is illegal. There have been several arrests made for selling crappie.
At one time, crappie was the top game fish at Clear Lake. Bass took over that title beginning in 1990, mainly because of all the tournaments. At one time tourists from throughout the state and the West would visit Clear Lake to catch crappie and not because the fish put up a fight such as a bass. It was because they were delicious to eat. In fact, many of the old resorts around the lake were built to accommodate the crappie fishermen. The fish became so popular that most resorts had crappie cleaning machines, which resembled large clothes dryers. You put a quarter in the slot and the machine would scale the fish. In those days, there were plenty of bass in the lake but most of the fishermen were after the tasty crappie.
Clear Lake holds two different species of crappie and both species are nearly identical. However, counting the spiny rays on the dorsal fin can identify them. A black crappie has seven or eight spines and a white crappie has six spines. As the name implies, the black crappie is normally darker overall. The white crappie usually has markings arranged in vertical bars. They spawn during the months of May and June. Like all members of the sunfish family, the male guards the nest and young fry. The young feed on zooplankton for their first two years. They mature in two to four years and their life expectancy is eight to 10 years, however most don’t live past four years.
Crappie aren’t native to Clear Lake or even the West. Actually, Clear Lake was the first lake in California to be stocked with crappie. That happened back in 1908 when crappie were brought to the lake from Illinois. These were of the black species and Clear Lake offered ideal habitat. The fish flourished. In 1951, white crappie were planted into the lake.
Crappie, both black and white, can grow to large sizes. The world record for black crappie is 6 pounds and for white crappie it’s 5 pounds, 3 ounces. Clear Lake holds the state record for white crappie with a 4-pound, 8-ounce fish caught back in 1971. Two-pounders are common and an occasional 3-pounder is caught. Several crappie weighing more than 3 pounds have been caught this year. In fact, one fisherman claimed he caught a crappie earlier this week that weighed more than 5 pounds.
Crappie are nearly always found in schools and some of these schools can be huge, holding up to 500 fish. Crappie seek out docks to hide beneath and that’s where most of the fishermen concentrate their efforts.
The downfall of crappie is their table quality. Few fish can match a crappie for eating and that’s one reason most of the fishermen catch and keep the 25 fish-per-day limit. Biologists say that in most cases catching and keeping a limit of crappie probably has little effect on their population. But with the number of crappie being caught this year it could have an impact on the fishery.
Last week the Lake County Fish and Wildlife Advisory Committee voted to send a recommendation to the Board of Supervisors (BOS). They want the supervisors to send a letter to the California Fish and Game Commission to reduce the daily limit at Clear Lake to no more than 10 crappie per day per person. with a possession limit of 10 crappie. Five years ago the BOS sent a letter to the Commission asking for a daily limit of 15 crappie but the Commission turned down that request.
