# cowan crappie



## the falcon (Mar 13, 2010)

my son has caught around 80 crappies the last 2 days, 12 inches being the biggest lots of small ones.8 feet of water,saturday i will show him how to catch them!!!


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## pontoon (Oct 13, 2008)

Are the docks back in the water at the marina? And, what are they biting on?


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## CrappieKiller (Mar 14, 2008)

Great news! I am going to be up there all weekend and was just waiting on a good report. Looks like wind on Sat. but I can't stand one more weekend on the couch.

I drove up today and was surprised, I thought the clarity would be much worse than what it is.


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## CrappieKiller (Mar 14, 2008)

I forgot to mention that the ramp is looking good. They put in new floating docks last year and they stay in all year. It's ready to go.


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## the falcon (Mar 13, 2010)

yes the docks are in, and the water doesnt look bad, after this long winter any water would be fine. oh ,he caught them on minnows


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## smith07 (Feb 28, 2009)

did he catch them from a boat or from shore?


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## Tediaslider (Jan 11, 2011)

Where is this at?


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## bigdamram (Apr 15, 2009)

not to hijack the thread, but will they allow someone to use their electric trolling motor on that lake? I was supposed to get a 9.9hp kicker with my boat, but the guy never came through with it.


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## CrappieKiller (Mar 14, 2008)

yes you can just use your electric. You just can't run your big motor except to load your boat


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## the falcon (Mar 13, 2010)

caught them from shore,cowan lake is in clinton county


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## bigdamram (Apr 15, 2009)

thanks ck, been wanting to hit that lake, but was worried about having to turn around once i got there. Great to hear they're biting, even if they're the small ones! Gave me the needed umph to get the registration renewed!


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## Slogdog (May 15, 2008)

CrappieKiller said:


> Great news! I am going to be up there all weekend and was just waiting on a good report. Looks like wind on Sat. but I can't stand one more weekend on the couch.
> 
> I drove up today and was surprised, I thought the clarity would be much worse than what it is.


Any luck today?


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## [email protected] (Dec 22, 2006)

My plan was to go to Caesar's Creek but it was flooded and no docks yet so I ended up fishing Cowan for the first time. I ended up with about 30 crappie, most between 8-9". Fished several areas but around the docks is what produced. Fish were biting 4-5' deep mostly on a mini mite and some on a maibou jig both tipped with minnows.


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## Salmonid (Apr 14, 2004)

Great report Ryan, Glad you got out, how was that wind...LOL and the SI worked out ok??

Salmonid


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## CrappieKiller (Mar 14, 2008)

Good day but windy. Caught a ton of small fish with a few nice ones here and there. Minnows 8 - 10 ft deep seemed to work best for me


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## Carpn (Apr 5, 2004)

How clean is the water there right now?


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## the falcon (Mar 13, 2010)

boat motor off getting tuned up, not done for weekend carb needs a float be done monday,will try to get out early this week and give full report


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## [email protected] (Dec 22, 2006)

The si unit performed pretty well. It will take some practice to use it to it's full potential. I didn't venture far from the ramp since I'm a little over the HP limit for the lake.

Visability was maybe a foot...better than CC though.


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## bigdamram (Apr 15, 2009)

my fiance and i on a whim went up yesterday, i've never fished there before, hell took forever to find a dock b/c i forgot to look at the map before we left. We launched around 530, and managed to have 20+ crappie caught before 645. Maybe only a few were just over the 9" mark though. Didn't think we did too bad for never fishing that place before and did well enough to keep the ol lady from saying "i'm cold lets leave!"

fished slip bobbers at two different spots, about 5-8' of water with minners.


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## catmando (Aug 21, 2006)

Anything on Cowan. Thinking about heading out tomorrow afternoon to Cowan or C.C. for some crappie action...


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## smith07 (Feb 28, 2009)

You won't find many over 9 in that lake. Many, many dinks.


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## bigdamram (Apr 15, 2009)

yea i had an old timer stop me while i was tying down the boat, asked me if i caught any and how big. lets say he was a little more than upset people were taking so many out the last couple years...... With how hungry they were sunday, and the fact that their mostly that size, they'll grow up while people are turned off about them being so small. Hopefully........


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## Slogdog (May 15, 2008)

Turned off? You may have seen an old timer but you didn't see the 100 guys that will take out a hundred 7 inchers apiece. It's been like that for years and last year Cowan was slammed more than ever since it is one of the few lakes left with no limits.


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## CrappieKiller (Mar 14, 2008)

It seems like this argument comes up every year on here about the size of the crappie at cowan. I can't decide if it is overfishing or overpopulation. 

The average size of the fish up there is getting way better than it was 4 to 5 years ago. I can remember a time when you could hold most of the crappie up to the sun and almost see through them. I am unsure of the future because last year was the most heavily fished year I can ever remember. I would go up there through the week and every parking spot had a trailer in it. 

On the other hand several years ago there was way less fishing pressure and still lots of small crappie. That is what confuses me about the situation. 

The bottom line is it is a great lake to go to and get lots of action and not have to fight pleasure boaters rocking you out of the boat. I would love to see a 9 inch limit imposed and maybe that would redirect some of the pressure to other lakes.


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## Bassnpro1 (Apr 6, 2004)

The state got it right when they did NOT put the 9" limit on Cowan. The DNR knows what they are doing and Cowan is just overpopulated with crappies. Those 7-8" crappie are mature crappies there. They should be over that, but they just don't grow any larger. Those 7-9" crappie have to be spawning and spawning really well at that to support the amount of crappie that get pulled out of there every year. Let's face it, if everybody was keeping these crappie and they were not at mature spawning age, then Cowan would fail to produce the numbers that is does.


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## the falcon (Mar 13, 2010)

i think there are slill plenty of nice size crappies in that lake and many more dinks,you just need to find the big boys.i am wondering how many fishermen will be on the lake in the weeks ahead


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## Countryboy23 (Mar 13, 2011)

I went up ther today to check out the water.Got there about 3pm and there was one boat on the whole lake???I wish i knew how to bass fish that lake.I used to fish there ALOT when i was a kid.Caught many many channel cats,carp,turtles,muskie,and white bass.Alot of good memorys.


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## tommy454 (May 20, 2008)

hopefully there is only one boat out there tomorrow too. cuz it will be mine...I've made Cowan my crappie destination for about 5 or 6 years now and have only caught a handful over 10".....My belief is overpopulation and not over fished. I have went with the mindset that nothing under 9" is going home with me and usually half way through the day I have to start keeping them at 8" just to have a meal. AS for over harvest my limit is 50 crappie per year...I love to eat them , just hate to fillet um..


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## crappiedude (Mar 12, 2006)

I think the state is way off base at Cowan. It could be a great lake but most of those fish never get a chance to get any bigger. I don't care about a size limit but that lake sure needs a quantity limit. If the put a 25 fish limit, any size I bet in 5 years their would be a major change in what it produces.
I agree with falcon, there's plenty of big boys in there, ya just got to find them.


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## brn2fsh (Feb 28, 2010)

Yep, 700 acres just cannot sustain the kind of pressure it took last year.It needs a 30 fish per angler per day rule!!


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## the falcon (Mar 13, 2010)

i think i will get after them today after work,got to make sure there are some big boys left.you are right crappie dude a limit would be nice ,quantity and size wouldn't hurt either.i see these guys taking 1to2 hundred fish ,mostly dinks don't know what they do with them. it sure impresses me!!!


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## mrfish12 (Mar 19, 2011)

Has the marina put their docks in yet?


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## CrappieKiller (Mar 14, 2008)

yeah they have been in for a couple weeks


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## tommy454 (May 20, 2008)

FYI,

The baitshop doesn't open until the 1st...but the Fishing Pole is right down the road on 350...


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## crappiedude (Mar 12, 2006)

I don't know about a size limit, but a quantity limit would be good. Heck if a guy is happy with 25 8" fish, let him have them. If a guy is happy with only 10" fish and he only cathes 12 or 13 fish a day, let him do it. The problem with a size limit on Cowan is it only puts any pressure on the larger fish. I just don't see why anyone needs more than 20 or 25 fish. Heck, it gives you a reason to go fishing again. That lake could use some balance.
I just don't believe the state boys on their reason for no size or quantity limits. I've just caught and have seen caught some nice fish to belive their slow growth rate BS.


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