Author Topic: Crappie Scale Collecting  (Read 2502 times)

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Offline PhishingPhreek

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Crappie Scale Collecting
« on: January 08, 2020, 12:46 PM »
As many of you know, Bartlett was stocked with about 11,000 black nose crappie fingerlings in March 2019. Many fishing reports came out later that year mentioning that they were catching Black Nose Crappie between 10-12 inches in length. This came as a big surprise to Game and Fish as most of the fish stocked earlier that year were only 3-5 inches. This means that in 6-7 months, these crappie were growing ~7" in length. This unheard of growth sparked interest with GnF and they decided to try and get scale samples so they could determine the age of the crappie being caught and find out how big they are at the age their scales says they are.

This is where our club, and anyone else who fishes at Bartlett... Game and Fish is really looking for participation in this data collection so they can learn more about the growth rate of all crappie in Bartlett. They're asking us to collect scale samples and additional data for ANY crappie caught in Bartlett. They already did a survey like this at Roosevelt Lake, so it's not necessary to collect any more.

In order for the scale samples to be useful for analysis, there needs to be specific information with the scales. Please use the instructions below to collect the scale samples.



Scales
There needs to be at least 3-4 good scales to put in the envelope. The scales need to come from the area right behind the pectoral fin (the side fin). Just lift the fin and scrape the scales from there. Check out the image below to find the area they would like the samples from. The samples can be collected safely from a fish even if you plan on throwing it back. Simply clear the area of any debris, then scrape a knife against the scales from back to front. The scales should pop off and you can get them and place them in the envelope. I've included a video below on how to scrape the scales. The video is of a striper, but the method is the same for a crappie.

Collect the scales from the area circled in red


A video example of how to collect scales


Necessary Data
On the envelop you'll need to supply some specific details about the fish to go with the scales so they know how big the fish was when the samples were taken.

On the envelope, please indicate if the crappie was a black nose or black crappie, the length, the weight, and the date you caught it. I've been using BNC and BC to indicate the species. I also like to add that they were caught at Bartlett just so we're clear that this was a Bartlett sample and not one from Rosey. I've attached an image of an envelope I filled out after taking a sample (see below). Your envelope doesn't have to look exactly like this, but something similar so it's easy for them to read.

Scale envelope with species, length, weight, date and lake caught


If you have any questions about this, please reply to this thread so everyone can follow additional information. I'll be updating this post if any information changes regarding the instructions.

If you would like to get envelopes, someone at any of the meetings should have some on their boat to share. If you would like to get envelopes yourself, you can reach out to Curt Gill or Bryant Dickens to obtain them. I know Game and Fish does follow our website, so maybe they'll chime in and add any additional information I forgot.
« Last Edit: January 09, 2023, 02:15 PM by OneBlade »

Offline PhishingPhreek

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Re: Crappie Scale Collecting
« Reply #1 on: March 16, 2020, 03:05 PM »
With the incredible catch rates of crappie out of Bartlett right now, I want to bump this up to the top. PLEASE take scale samples if you catch crappie out of Bartlett. This will help give Game and Fish more data on the crappie populations and growth and could encourage them to do more stockings or even more habitats.

 

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