Clear Lake anglers have become used to major bass tournaments and the lake even hosts one of the largest catfish derbies in the country. The lake is also known for its abundant and large crappie population. On Jan. 26, it will host its first crappie tournament.
The tournament is limited to 50 teams with an entry fee of $60 per team. It features a 100-percent payback of entry fees. With a 50-team field the winners will receive $1,000. Each team is allowed to weigh-in 10 crappie with a 12-inch minimum length. Tournament headquarters is Limit Out Bait and Tackle shop in Clearlake Oaks. Call 998-1006 for more information.
In the southern states crappie tournaments are common and often draw several hundred participants. One derby held last year had the winner taking home $100,000. There are even professional crappie fishermen.
Crappie used to be more popular than bass in Clear Lake. In the 1950s and 60s, crappie were in the lake by the thousands and were the dominant game fish in the lake. In fact, many of the local resorts were built around the crappie fishery. Tourists from throughout the state would visit the lake on weekends to harvest these tasty critters. Many of the resorts had crappie-cleaning machines that resembled giant clothes dryers. A fisherman would put in a quarter and then dump his fish in the cleaner. Within minutes the fish was completely scaled. There would be long lines of fishermen awaiting their turn at the machines on weekends.
In those years there was no daily limit and it wasn’t unusual to catch 200 crappie a day. Just about every dock produced hundreds of the slabsides. While there were bass in the lake, they took a backseat to the crappie. The crappie started to disappear in the mid-1970s and within 10 years the lake held few crappie. What happened to the crappie fishery is still a big mystery at Clear Lake. There have been a number theories ranging from the drought of the late 1970s to the introduction of the silverside minnows and threadfin shad. However, crappie have made a dramatic comeback at the lake and last spring there were crappie everywhere.
Clear Lake was the first lake in California to hold crappie. The first plant was in 1908 when black crappie where shipped from Meredosia, Illinois. The black crappie flourished. It wasn’t until 1951 that white crappie were stocked in the lake. They soon became the dominate species. While the black crappie didn’t disappear, their numbers dwindled. In Clear Lake’s crappie heyday of the 1960s, it was the white crappie that filled most of the stringers. Clear Lake still holds the state record for white crappie, a 4-pound, 8-ounce lunker caught by Carol Carlton in 1971.
Crappie can grow to huge sizes. The world record is 6 pounds for black crappie and 5 pounds, 3 ounces for white crappie. In Clear Lake, 2- and 3-pounders are common.
Crappie are valued more for their eating qualities than fighting ability. Nothing is tastier that a plate of fried crappie fillets. Whereas many fishermen release a bass, few release a crappie.
A member of the sunfish family, crappie can be identified by the number of rays (or spines) on their dorsal fin. A white crappie has six or fewer spines while a black crappie has seven or eight spines.
They spawn during the months of May and June. Like all members of the sunfish family, the male crappie guards the nest and young fry. The young feed on zoo plankton for their first two years. They mature in two to four years and their life expectancy is eight to 10 years.
While black crappie tend to hold a steady population, white crappie are considered a cycle fish in that they will experience population explosions and crashes. This is another theory on why the white crappie all but disappeared from Clear Lake.
All of the state’s lakes now have a 25-crappie-per-day limit, something biologists agree is necessary for the health of the fishery. In the past, fishermen would just keep catching and keeping them. In many lakes, the fishery couldn’t stand the pressure.
