# Steamed



## DennyR (Aug 24, 2008)

I learned a long time ago not to send a letter or email when you're mad. And I'm mad. I'm about to fire off a letter to the editor, and I need you guys to calm me down and talk me out of if. If you have time read the following article:

http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/08/12/625083/bite-is-right-in-the-night.html#storylink=misearch

This is fresh water, but the whole thing stinks. This guy and his buds build their own "brush piles" out of PVC (Christmas trees apparently rot), to provide crappie habitat (ie siphon off the fish from the rest of the lake), keep their private fish traps a secret, use bright lights to lure fish, and then take (according to the article) 63-100 fish for the cooler. The limits on most NC lakes is 20. This guy is strip mining the lake. If you aren't one of his "in crowd" buddies, you're chances of gettting skunked on this lake seem pretty high to me. 

Legal? Maybe. Wrong? Without a doubt. So I'm mad. Is this normal in most lakes and I just don't know about it? No wonder I don't like freshwater fishing. Give me the surf and a big drum on light tackle any time.

So talk me out of writing that letter. I'm angry enough I might actually say what I mean.


----------



## Too Busy (Sep 7, 2007)

Write the letter and get it out of your system.

Put it on a shelf for a day and read it. If you still feel the same way, drop it in the mail (maybe with a revision or two  )


----------



## Bull Durham (Aug 14, 2006)

Crappie are sorta like spot...no limit. There are a few exceptions though..Jordan does have a 20 fish limit. Falls and Buggs Island have no limit. The article says they were on Jordan...and kept 63...thats a few more than 20.


----------



## oldsalt737 (Apr 8, 2009)

*Crappies*

Thats S.O.P. for the serious crappie fisherman. As long as you abide by the laws and limits of the lake, I would have no problem with it.


----------



## Bull Durham (Aug 14, 2006)

oldsalt737 said:


> Thats S.O.P. for the serious crappie fisherman. As long as you abide by the laws and limits of the lake, I would have no problem with it.



Me either...but the limit on Jordan Lake is 20...the article says they were on Jordan...and he kept 63


----------



## LaidbackVA (May 17, 2007)

*crappie*

The limit in VA is 25 and that's fine. I've had days where I've caught over 100 but I never keep more than 25. The system the man in the article is very exceptible, I've got many trees and pvc bush piles and I don't give the locations to anyone. There's nothing wrong with catching the fish as long as he only keeps his limit.


ron


----------



## narfpoit (Jun 16, 2004)

the Article said several times that they were fishing in Harris lake which has no size or creel limit. So if you have a problem with his methods you need to share your concerns with NC wildlife resource commission not the N&O.


----------



## Finger_Mullet (Aug 19, 2005)

*Lake Crappie fishing*

If you will notice they are talking about Shearon Harris Lake, not Jordan lake. There is no size limit or bag limit at Shearon Harris. The first words in the article states Harris Lake. There are a crap load of crappie in Harris Lake and compared to Jordan very few crappie fishermen. 

I as well as probably 100% of crappie fisherman use lights when fishing at night for crappie. There is nothing unethical about it. It draws minnows and crappie come to feed on the minnows. I personally do it weekly. In my opinion it is the very best way to crappie fish in the hot Summer months. So as long as it is legal to use lights at night to crappie fish I am positive it will continue to be done. Just because you drop a light in the water does not guarantee you will catch a boat load of fish. There are many many factors in night time crappie fishing. There is no guarantee.

As far as putting structure in a lake to hold crappie, that is legal as well. If you spent the time and money to build the structure, haul it to the lake and sink it you would not broadcast it to the world where you sank it. It is kinda like people bitching about burning spots here on Pierandsurf. Just read a few posts and you can tell there are a ton of secrets kept on this forum. Secret bait, secret locations etc....... If you are not in the know you get no inside info on the Fall drum run on the Northern beaches in NC. Same goes for the Spring run at Ocracoke. So why would crappie fishing be any different. I have not sank any structure in any lake. I do however fish some of my buddies structure they sank in past years. Is it unfair or wrangling all the fish in the lake? No. There are nights that very few fish are caught and other nights you can load the boat. No different than any other kind of fishing. 

There are so many crappie in Harris that all the crappie fishermen could keep a 100 fish a night and never hurt the population. Crappie will overpopulate 
a body of water in no time. Why do you think there is no bag limit or size limit? WHy do you think there is a limit on size and number at Jordan. You see very few crappie fishermen at Harris. You see hundreds every night at Jordan. Harris is the better crappie lake. That is why I drive 30 minutes further to fish it. It is farther off the hwy and has less boat ramps. People prefer bigger water and easier access. 

You need to visit crappie.com and read a little more into crappie fishing. All the points of the article you mentioned are commonly practiced and accepted. If you feel it is wrong you just don't understand the art of crappie fishing. I would not shoot off a letter bashing this fisherman. He did nothing wrong or unethical. He is a dedicated fisherman that has spent the time to get to the top of his game. 

Darin


----------



## SmoothLures (Feb 13, 2008)

What would you rather do? Sit in 100+ degree weather not catching any crappie, or fish when it's 75-80 at night under lights? Not to mention the pleasure boaters flying around the lake. 

It's not guaranteed to catch fish. You still have to do your homework, setup on the right places, find the right depth for the baits, drop structure where the fish will be, ect. And then you've invested hours in waiting on the bait to come in, and in turn the bigger fish. What's wrong with putting PVC pipes in? Would you rather fish structure A, a cedar tree top with dozens of branches that you get hung up on and scare the fish away when you try to break your line, or fish structure B a PVC pipe structure that you don't get hung on? 

How is putting in _maybe_ a 10' x 10' brush pile siphoning off fish from the rest of the lake?? They can go where ever they want. You think they don't have other cover they can hold in? Crappie spawn like CRAZY. Have you ever fished a pond that had them stocked? It's almost impossible to keep them in check. 

If he's poaching, then the proper authorities should be contacted. If you don't know what lake he was on, don't know how many people were in his boat, or what lake he was referring to when he quoted 63-100 fish, then you should not. 

I suggest you try it before you bash something you don't know about. Or just go fish for inactive fish on the lake while the jet skis fly around you, then slap some aloe on when you get home cause you got burned. 

But hey that's just my .02.


----------



## DennyR (Aug 24, 2008)

*Thanks*

You guys did just what I hoped you would do--you got me to calm down. You're right that I know nothing about crappie fishing. That world is a lot different than the surf. I won't write the letter. 

Still, building private brush piles in public lakes doesn't seem quite right, although I understand it is legal. Neither does keeping such huge numbers of fish. How many can you eat, anyway? 

Most of us are so conservation minded when it comes to fishing the surf, that the methods and numbers in that article came as a shock to me. A whole different world. Thanks again for telling me about it.


----------



## mepps3 (May 18, 2007)

Could dropping brushpiles in a public lake be considered illegal dumping?? If I want to get rid of some old tires, can I just go to a public lake and say I am creating a fish shelter??


----------



## Finger_Mullet (Aug 19, 2005)

The biologists that set the limits know what a lake can support. If there is no size or bag limit there must be an over abundance of crappie in the lake. 
We have caught several hundred fish in a night at Harris. Most were small but there was some really big fish mixed in. I generally keep what I can eat or can freeze and eat later. 

I doubt this guy is wasting those fish. Crappie is probably the best tasting freshwater fish available. If he is not eating them I bet he is giving them to someone that is.

As far as dumping in a public lake, if you can load your trees on your boat and haul it to a place to dump it, go for it. It is not like you are going to be able to haul a white oak log that is 4 feet across and 20 feet long very far. These guys are dropping cedar tree tops, bamboo, pvc trees, etc..... They are not polluting the lake. They are providing structure to hold fish. 


Darin


----------



## narfpoit (Jun 16, 2004)

By placing these pvc attractors in the lake you are providing cover and habitat for the fish which is beneficial and it is unlikely that you will be fishing the same spot everyday so the benefit out ways the fact that you keep some when you do get a chance to fish your attractor.


----------



## SmoothLures (Feb 13, 2008)

DennyR said:


> You guys did just what I hoped you would do--you got me to calm down. You're right that I know nothing about crappie fishing. That world is a lot different than the surf. I won't write the letter.
> 
> Still, building private brush piles in public lakes doesn't seem quite right, although I understand it is legal. Neither does keeping such huge numbers of fish. How many can you eat, anyway?
> 
> Most of us are so conservation minded when it comes to fishing the surf, that the methods and numbers in that article came as a shock to me. A whole different world. Thanks again for telling me about it.


It's no different than fishing a fallen tree. Just you provide cover for the fish where you want it. Most of the crappie are small when there's no limit. Likely cause of an over abundance of them. They breed and eat like crazy. So plenty of fish need to be taken out. And yes they're my favorite freshwater fish by far! Yum! Freeze them in water and they'll last a year or throw a fish fry for your neighbors, I'll be ya none go to waste. 

There's a difference in dumping trash -- tires and whatnot -- and bamboo/PVC/tree tops anchored down by 50+ lbs of concrete. And it is not legal in all states. Some places you can't add anything to the water, even on a lake by lake basis sometimes. Make sure to check your local laws.


----------

