Clear Lake has the reputation of being one of the best bass lakes in the nation, but the black crappie is also in abundance here. In fact, the lake has held the state record for black crappie for more than 30 years. Two years ago the state produced a new state record for black crappie when local tackle store owner David Burruss caught a 4-pound, 5 ounce black crappie. Burruss broke the old record of 4 pounds, 3 ounces that had stood for 33 years.
At one time, crappies were more popular than bass in Clear Lake. In the 1950s and 60s, crappies were in the lake by the thousands and at one time, crappies were the predominate 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. In fact, many of the resorts had crappie cleaning machines that resembled giant clothes dryers. The fisherman would put in a quarter and then dump his fish in the cleaner. Within minutes the fish was completely scaled. Often on weekends, there would be long lines of fishermen awaiting their turn at the machines.
In those years, there was no daily limit and it wasn’t unusual to catch 200 crappie per day. Just about every dock produced hundreds of the slabsides. While there were bass in the lake, they took a backseat to the crappie. Then in the mid 1970s, the crappie started to disappear and within 10 years the lake held few crappies. What happened to the crappie fishery is still the big mystery of Clear Lake. There have been a number theories that range from the drought to the introduction of the silverside minnows and threadfin shad. Crappie have made a dramatic comeback and last spring there were thousands of crappies everywhere.
Clear Lake was the first lake in California to have 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 crappies were stocked in the lake and soon they 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 fishermen’s’ 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 for black crappie is 6 pounds and for white crappie it’s 5 pounds-3 ounces. In Clear Lake, 2 and 3 pounders were common.
They are valued more for their eating qualities than fighting ability. Nothing is tastier that a plate of fried crappie fillets. Whereas many fishermen will release a bass, very few will release a crappie.
It is a member of the sunfish family and the white crappie can be identified from the black by the number of rays (or spines) on its dorsal fin. A white crappie will have six or less spines, while a black will have from seven or eight spines.
They spawn during the months of May and June and like all members of the sunfish family, the male guards the nest and young fry. The young feed on zoo plankton for their first two years. They mature in 2-4 years and their life expectancy is 8-10 years.
While black crappie tend to hold a steady population, white crappie are considered a cycle fish in that they will have population explosions and then crashes. This is another theory on why the white crappie all but disappeared from Clear Lake.
All the biologist agree the best thing that has happened to the crappie fishery in all of the state’s lakes is the 25-crappie per day limit. In the past, fishermen would just keep catching and keeping the crappie. In many lakes, the fishery couldn’t stand the pressure.
