What do you consider a large Crappie 2024
LAURASDAD reply :
Hello,
Just got back from a Crappie fishing trip to Ky Lake. We caught 90 Crappie in 2 days (just the fish I kept). The min size is 10".
The largest were 17"-18".
My question is what do you consider a "big" crappie?
thanks
Larry
Got Bass? reply :
17"-18"?
Are you sure? :-?
Those are HUGE crappie!!
But to answer your question, I think a 12" crappie is pretty big.
POST PICS!!!!!
Craw reply :
12" is a real good sized crappie, and anything larger than that is definitely what I consider big. I'd love to see some pictures from your trip.
Tom Bass reply :
Screw the Pix...When is the fish fry? ;D
CK14 reply :
i've seen pics of 18" crappie before..... HUGE! never gonna see one of those up here in washington :'(
9" is the minimum in most lakes.... 10" is a good keeper.... 12" is a REAL good fish. anything over 12" isn't to common :'(
roadwarrior reply :
According to the reference chart developed by New York State Department of Environmental Conservation,
18" ~ 3 lbs 14 oz. In northern Mississippi that would be a "very nice" crappie. Four pounds is large. 5 lbs 3 oz is the World Record (white crappie); 4 lbs 8 oz for black crappie.
Pond Hopper reply :
I start keeping them around 12 inches and I think 14 inches is a nice or big one.
senile1 reply :
Twelve to fourteen inch crappie are good solid fish where I come from. Around here, there are occasional seventeen and eighteen inch crappie and they usually weight more than 3 lbs. I haven't had the privilege of catching one of these monsters yet.
Bud reply :
You have done better than 99% of the people who are fishing for crappie this time of the year. I know some people who are die hard crappie fishman and you beat them. To answered you question a 17 or 18 incher is a big crappie.
LAURASDAD reply :
Thanks for your replies.
If any of you are at Kentucky Lake, check out my guide, Andy Allen. He is a heck of an angler and a nice guy.
Larry
bass109 reply :
In south they have some of the biggest crappie. 12in in Kansas would be big crappie.
Catt reply :
On Toledo Bend we catch a lot of 2 to 2 1/2 lb Crappie on Spinner Baits and Rat-L-Traps.
The lake record Black Crappie is 3.69 lb/17.75" and White Crappie is 2.88 lb/17.25".
guest reply :
A few 12" specks will make a nice little fish dinner.
scott000 reply :
i keep the daily limit worth, of all sizes but every time i catch a bigger one, ill throw a small one back.
id say 10in is pretty big, my biggest was about 11in. i thought i had a bass, but hey, it taste pretty good.
Fish Chris reply :
we have some good ones over here on the left coast too ! :-) Our best fishery for them, by far, is at Clear Lk.
In fact, I have been starting to chase them a bit. Haven't caught my 3.0 or better yet, but I did get a 2.3 and a 2.4 lb'er last week. I know of two 3-14's that have been caught this Fall already, and the Ca. state reord of 4lb 8 oz came from Clear Lk. also.
Around here, a 3.0 will be 17 to 18 inches. A 4 might be 18" to 19".
Peace,
Fish
camofish reply :
QuoteTwelve to fourteen inch crappie are good solid fish where I come from. Around here, there are occasional seventeen and eighteen inch crappie and they usually weight more than 3 lbs. I haven't had the privilege of catching one of these monsters yet.
Totally the same here.
My biggest this year was only 13 1/2".
caught on my fav. red/white tubie 8-)
Only hope to get one like that off the ice this coming season.
rocknfish9001 reply :
The biggest i ever caught was 15" on a medium sized husky jerk, with about 2/4 of the lake still frozen. Only the shorelines were fishable. Anyways, in michigan, 14-15 inches is pretty big. I dont think i ever caught one uner 10 inches ever, because i always accidently catch them on bass lures.
Turtle. reply :
QuoteI dont think i ever caught one uner 10 inches ever, because i always accidently catch them on bass lures.
Same here,caught a 15" this year on a deepdiver and several over 10"all by accident
bow3022 reply :
I am not exactly sure how long my crappie is but, i know for sure its 2bls 2oz.
RoLo reply :
QuoteRe: What do you consider a large Crappie
Statistically speaking, any crappie over 2 lbs is Trophy-Class.
A 2 lb crappie will average about 15" long and be about 8 years old.
A 3 lb crappie is Record-Class and average about 17" long (Age-??).
Roger
roadwarrior reply :
Well, I certainly wasn't trying to beat up anyones's catch, it's just that in this region, BIG crappie are REALLY BIG.
I'm not a crappie fisherman, so I'm NOT bragging about any fish I have caught. Crappie around here are for EATING,
they are NOT considered a TROPHY fish.
I'll stick with 4 lbs for what I consider a LARGE CRAPPIE, but I have never caught one.
flechero reply :
Roadwarrior,
That's calispeak!! ;D
Our records (Tx) are:
black crappie 3.92 (Fork 03')
white crappie 4.56 (caught in 1968)
Biggest I have ever seen is 3.5 lbs., biggest I have ever caught (on a 1/2 oz spinnerbait no less!) was right at 3 lbs., and they were tanks! Both at Hide-a-way's 3rd lake. (and both caught by accident while bass fishing)
ol_grayfeather reply :
Here is a 14 incher from Eastern WA ;D
roadwarrior reply :
flechero,
You're right. Maybe I can get Bud to take me crappie fishing at Kentucky Lake next spring, I'm sure that would give me a much better perspective on what crappie fishing is all about. The few times I have fished for them, they were not particularly exciting. I'm not saying that a mess of "slabs" isn't a good day, but the fight is weak, even on ultra light tackle. The comparison might be to speckled trout: B-O-R-I-N-G, but good to eat!
flechero reply :
QuoteThe few times I have fished for them, they were not particularly exciting.
Right there with you... only fished for them on purpose for an upcoming fish fry. I find that my miller lite cans 'empty' much faster when crappie fishing! ;D
basspro48 reply :
17-18" Good Lord man 
that is a very nice crappie. Around central VA we consider a 12 incher to be a nice crappie and anything 15" or more is considered a trophy.
Daniel My Brother reply :
1 lb = Large
2 lb = Huge
3 lb = Monster
4 lb = Record
Floridabassking352 reply :
A big crappie to me is 2lbs. Unfortunately I haven't caught one that big yet. :'(
Syfer420 reply :
soooo no pics of this 17- 18 inch crappie???? :
Matt Fly reply :
The crappie LBH referred to me catching out front of Fishermen Cove last year was 19.5 inches on my check it stick. Was caught on 3/4 oz spinner bait.
My initial response was a nice chunck about 3.5 lbs, and I was referring to a bass, but after finally seeing it, I knew it was monster crappie close to 4 lbs.
Fork has some big crappie. That crappie was 12 inches sideways on the board, that crappie mouth could have swallowed a can with room to spare on all sides.
i think any thing over 3 is a trophy crappie. Weekends on Fork right now, you can walk from boat to boat out in the mail lake deep water near the dam, the crappie are already suspended for the winter and people are too. The bite is on.
Matt
Piscatorian reply :
Like anything, depends where you are. The one here is 18", caught from a six acre suburban residential pond in outside of Chicago in October. I got a 14, 15 and 16 on the same day. Not typical!
RODBENDER reply :
Like RW said the Mississippi record is over 5 pounds and a 12 incher down here is just a nice crappie .
In a place like Minnesota a 12 incher is probably a bigun . We have a 12 minimum on Grenada Lake .
I feel for sure the next world record will come from one of the North Mississippi flood control reservoirs
Sardis , Arkabuttla , Enid or Grenada
The Mississippi record over 5 pounds came from Arkabuttla in 1957 i think .
RODBENDER reply :
Quoteflechero,You're right. Maybe I can get Bud to take me crappie fishing at Kentucky Lake next spring, I'm sure that would give me a much better perspective on what crappie fishing is all about. The few times I have fished for them, they were not particularly exciting. I'm not saying that a mess of "slabs" isn't a good day, but the fight is weak, even on ultra light tackle. The comparison might be to speckled trout: B-O-R-I-N-G, but good to eat!
RW , a 3 pounder in 15 feet of water hooked up to 12 ft graphite pole and 4 pound line would probably make you pee your panties . LOL
roadwarrior reply :
RODBENDER,
Man, I would like to give it a try. If you have room for me sometime this spring, I would like to fish with you. I'm just a few minutes north of the Mississippi border in Germantown (Memphis). Let me know if that might work out for you. I can meet you at any of the lakes you mentioned.
RoLo reply :
World-Record White Crappie: 5lbs 3oz Enid Dam, Mississippi River 1957
World-Record Black Crappie 5lbs 0oz Santee Cooper Res, SC 1957
A world record however is a world-class fish, which has little to do with trophy-class or record-class.
On average, if you catch a fish weighing 50% of the world record you're midway between trophy & record class.
Roger
RODBENDER reply :
RW , that works for me .Grenada is half way between us, and the spawn is not too far off . Week days are best , weekends are always crowded in spring .
It would be a good chance to pick your brain about the smallmouth fishing on Pickwik .
RODBENDER reply :
QuoteWorld-Record White Crappie: 5lbs 3oz Enid Dam, Mississippi River 1957
World-Record Black Crappie 5lbs 0oz Santee Cooper Res, SC 1957
A world record however is a world-class fish, which has little to do with trophy-class or record-class.
On average, if you catch a fish weighing 50% of the world record you're midway between trophy & record class.
Roger
ROLO ,
I had it wrong . Arkabuttla produced the state record black crappie .
Enid does hold the state record white crappie .
here is a link to the Mississippi fisheries website .
http://www.mdwfp.com/Level2/Fisheries/pdf/recordFish.pdf
If this is the same fish that is the world record , what does the Mississippi river have to do with it ?
I wonder how accurate some of these old records are ?
Clayton reply :
Those are good craps
camofish reply :
Here is a 14"er on the last open water here before she locked up with ice.
Caught with my UL - 28" icefishing rod with 4# mono.
guest reply :
I caught a two pound crappie on a 1/2 oz popper last week.
I love catching specks.
Troutfisher reply :
Me too...nothing like hooking onto a good crappie and feeling the surge of those slab panfish 
Camo, you always seem to land some when I head over to this section. Good job!
CK14 reply :
QuoteHere is a 14 incher from Eastern WA ;D
what lake is that???
Redlinerobert reply :
I went to the Sporstman's Expo in San Mateo and they had a cooler full of HUGE crappie, caught at Clear Lake. I had no idea they got that big!
On a side note this one particular booth also had a cooler full of squid as long as my leg! :-?
Jerkbate reply :
I live about 5 minutes from Grenada Lake and about 20 minutes from Enid Lake. We consider anything over 2 lbs. a nice fish, over 3 lbs. a really good fish, and over 4 lbs a trophy. I don't crappie fish much, but I'll try to get pictures of two my cousin caught last year. One is 4 pounds 11 oz. The other 4 pounds 5 oz. If I can get the pictures I'll post them.
camofish reply :
How about this 16 1/2" crappie my buddy got a few weeks ago. 8-)
Biggest one I've seen personally. 8-) And my buddies personal best.
stewart1218 reply :
I've caught a couple 15" crappie in my day off our pier on Weiss Lake, AL supposedly known as the crappie capitol of the world. My brother caught one on a bass plug that would go 17" but he forgot to bring the stupid fish basket back into the boat before he left the hole so he had a nice basket of water when he got back to the dock!
For about 5 years the lake was really poor in crappie as a lot of unscrupulous fisherman would come into town and fish with 15 or so rods off the boat in a creek. They looked like shrimp boats! They'd catch 2 to 3 times the limit and measure nothing, and would be out of town before the marine police ever knew they were there.
Forgive me if I sound cynical to out of towners, You guys from Kentucky, Ill, and Ohio keep the lake businesses in business! But there are some folks out there who don't care what the law is, they just want to catch a ton of crappie, and to them the give the finger!
It got so bad that about 4 years ago a group of concerned citizens got together a raised money to dump about 100,000 crappie into the lake every year for about 3 years. 300,000 total
Last year was the first season where the 3 year old (the first batch) were eating size. We caught a limit of 12 inch crappie. Im hoping that this year will be even better as those crappie will now be 4 or 5 years old and the numbers should really be up.
Hopefully weiss will be back on the map again!
roadwarrior reply :
Hey Jerkbate!
Back on page 1, I responded that 4 lbs was what I "consider a large crappie." I know they are not "common", but lots of guys fishing down there, around you, catch 4+ crappie. I hope you can post a picture of a 4-11, I'm sure it will surprise a few folks!
lunchbox508 reply :
here is a crappie that weighs 3.70 lbs. and is 18 inches long
That is what I consider large
Jerkbate reply :
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t90/onemorepass/grenada06006.jpg
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t90/onemorepass/3lb4oz.jpg
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t90/onemorepass/GrenadaMCC412006013.jpg
My cousin is supposed to get me those pictures next week. In the meantime here are a few pictures of 3+ pounders caught at Grenada that were posted on the MDWFP forum.
Murray reply :
nice!!!
John J. reply :
A large crappie is called sac-a-lait (Sack-Al-Ae' pronounciation) Cajun word for "BIG @$$ CRAPPIE" ;D
mark44 reply :
Wow!! nice crappie. The biggest I caught was 15 inches last year on a western Pa. lake with a small glass rap. I catch quite a few on small cranks.
BOORING?? Was that you RW? I guess it could be if you bait fish for them. I always use artfitial baits with jigs, or beetle spins, or cranks. When you get into them it's a blast. My beer always gets warm.
Mark
luv2fsh33 reply :
nice, we caught 30 on friday night and the biggest was just over 2lbs but my personal best is 3.3lb. 17" lake maumelle just outside LR.
mtnbasser reply :
A funny story, me and my friend were crappie fishing one day after work(first time I ever used live minnows). we caught about fifty, I caught what I thought would be a good dinner, nothing else. When we got back to the dock a warden was checking licenses and bags I thought we were busted(had no clue what the limit on crappie was) When he looked in our livewell he grabbed my dinner fish and took it to his truck. He called on his radio,cell phone,etc. Took it to the marina scale and came back to tell me I missed the GA state record by 3 ounces, It weighed 4lbs 1oz. All I got was a few pics and a full belly!!!
powerman970 reply :
My personal best is just shy of 4 lbs caught on a deep diving crank bait. My 11 year old son and I caught and released about 50 Sunday and kept 5 for the dinner table. All 5 we kept were in the 2-2 1/2 lb range and I got to witness a guy take a 3 lb 10 oz off of his pier Saturday night while we were anchored fishing under his light. In Alabama 2 lb fish are not uncommon and 3 lb I would consider a large fish. BTW we caught all of ours Saturday and Sunday on shiners and 4 lb test line on small Zebco ultralight spin cast reels. As much as I love to bass fish sometimes I like to relax and just run the boat so my son can catch all the crappie he wants. He doesn't care what species of fish it is as long as it pulls. Kind of makes me miss the good old days when I wasn't running up and down the lake all day trying to find a pattern. You know back when fishing was just fun and there was no work involved.
Bankbeater reply :
Here is a link to the new Missouri record. It was caught on a minnow on a private lake.
http://www.outdoorcentral.com/mc/pr/06/05/08a4a2.asp
BD reply :
Here is a 2 lb crappie we caught about 2 weeks ago.
(Same fish just different close-ups.)
Bionicman reply :
Anything that is 2 Ibs. and up is a big crappie where I come from and anything 3 and up is a trophy!
Jerkbate reply :
I couldn't get the pics of the 4-11, but here is a picture of one that's 4 lb 5oz. It's the third one from the top on the left side. Several of the other fish are between 2 & 3 pounds.
Jerkbate reply :
Here is another pic of a stringer of nice fish with several 2+ pounders.
moby bass reply :
Here's a 16 inch crappie my son caught in our local pond last summer.
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