# Salt fork Results 9-16



## firetiger (Jul 24, 2004)

2 nice saugeye 16in and 2 small walleye. all caught out by dam. Tons of crappie all over the lake the only thing was they were 7-9inches. missed a few nice eyes too. Everything caught on 1/8 roadrunner 2inch twister tail tipped with minnow running the bottom trolling.


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## jigtwins (Sep 18, 2006)

Planning on going down there friday and saturday. just looking for some nice gills for the freezer.


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## Smallmouth Crazy (Apr 4, 2006)

I was there this last June with my family..my son and I caught alot of Crappie as well but most were small...the lake doesnt have a size limit to my understanding and its sorely needed...we plan to go back in November hopefully the weather is descent enough to get some more fishing in.


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## wvsportsman (Feb 21, 2006)

Smallmouth Crazy, the guys at saltfork outdoors had a petition going to send to the state to get a 12 in limit on the lake. When yo get back there please stop by and sign and tell everyone else you can..Thanks
P.S.
They were going to work on an online petition, not sure if they got that going or not.
checkout their website, www.saltforkoutdoors.com


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## Smallmouth Crazy (Apr 4, 2006)

12" might be a bit stiff..they have a 9" limit on most lakes here in Central Ohio and within a couple years or so it begins to bring things around..my father and I fished Deer Creek here in Central Ohio back in the early 80s when everybody was knocking the snot out of Hoover and Alum and did really well rarely did we catch a crappie under 10"...but then slowly but surely the crowds came down to Deer and the fishing went south..not only should there be a size limit but a bag limit as well...you cant tell me you need to drag home 100-200 crappie in a day and Ive seen it done before...Salt Fork is such a beautiful lake and area they need to protect it when the need arises...I will watch for the petition.


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## toboso (Apr 14, 2004)

A 12" minimum length limit doesn't guarantee fish will attain that size or larger. There may simply be a population of 11" fish that you can't harvest. Crappie are so cyclical that it would be tough to draw correlations between legislation and impact.

As for bag limits, I don't disagree that there are fish hogs among us. The same boom & bust cycle wtih crappie can make it look like the meat hunters are wiping out the population. The truth is, a lot of crappie simply die without being harvested.

With crappie being a fish of relatively high abundance, they are great quarry for beginning anglers, vacationers, and those simply looking for some fillets. Restrictive regulations are a tough sell when it comes to a fish like crappie.

Sometimes all we can do is be good sportsmen and harvest wisely--set a good example for others. More importantly, teach the next generation of anglers how to do it. Sometimes we have to accept that "water X" (we all have a local "pet" lake or river) isn't the trophy water we wish it were...


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## Smallmouth Crazy (Apr 4, 2006)

Then the ODNR is right in making the size limit 9"..I can see what your saying in having a ton of 11" fish that dont get harvested....but do we want a bunch of 6" dinks??? it seems like they might have a happy medium with the 9" limit...it has done good things around here...are you saying that you dont think Salt Fork can be a productive lake for crappies regardless of regulations??


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## JCS (Apr 14, 2004)

I believe the peition is for 9" to mirror the MWCD. I have seen it fishing to EBCC this spring. The MWCD lakes had far better average size fish.


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## firetiger (Jul 24, 2004)

they had a crappie tourny sat and the guys that were catching them they threw every one in a bucket. I asked how the tourny rules went. its the biggest 8 crappie weighs in.. Im still wonder what those fellows were trying to do. i bet those crappie didnt go 7inches that they kept.


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## Smallmouth Crazy (Apr 4, 2006)

I thought that the people who put on those tourneys one of the goals is to release the fish back alive??? if they went in a bucket chances are they were dead in minutes...you wonder what the joy is in hoisting up a stringer of dink crappie??? you got to think that some of the guys in the tourney got a couple descent ones..but it sounds like the majority of the fish were on the small side.


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## fished-out (Dec 20, 2005)

Smallmouth Crazy said:


> I thought that the people who put on those tourneys one of the goals is to release the fish back alive??? if they went in a bucket chances are they were dead in minutes...you wonder what the joy is in hoisting up a stringer of dink crappie??? you got to think that some of the guys in the tourney got a couple descent ones..but it sounds like the majority of the fish were on the small side.


The tournament had a 9" size limit. You probably saw people using a "cull" bucket. Essentially, you put the ones that are close to 9" in a bucket for later measurement. If you later catch fish (you only need 8) that are clearly larger than 9", the bucket of fish goes over the side. That particular tournament saw alot of short fish and many teams unable to weigh 8 keepers. Trollers also use the bucket method until they get a chance to measure the fish, as leaving the lines can lead to tangles, missed fish, etc.

fished-out


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## Smallmouth Crazy (Apr 4, 2006)

I didnt see anything personally just responding to a previous post...but Thanks for the explanation.


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## firetiger (Jul 24, 2004)

from what i saw those crappie were not even close to 9inches. and it was a 5 gallon grey bucket that i saw. 3 other boaters did the same thing.


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