SARA

As we’re settling into peak Black Crappie fishing months on Lake Istokpoga, I thought this would be a great question to answer for this month’s column.

Black Crappie are a very popular sportfish and Lake Istokpoga has some of the best Black Crappie fishing in the state. There are numerous ways that I collect data on Black Crappie to help drive management decisions. Information on sampling techniques and data collected can be found in the December 2022 edition of The Angler Magazine. Each method of data collection targets a specific aspect of the fish population and allows mangers to get the most robust snapshot of what the fishery. However, even with yearly data collection there are still unknowns about Black Crappie life history and spawning.

The goal of this study is to be able to best predict Black Crappie populations “boom and bust cycles” to better inform anglers of when to expect a good fishing year.

One of those unknowns we would like to address is “why Black Crappie populations are so cyclic, with good years of fishing, followed by poor years… aka boom and bust populations”. Gamefish, like largemouth bass, have environmental cues that trigger fish to spawn - like water temperature and moon phases. For Black Crappie, much of this is still not fully understood. Therefore, it is hard to determine what marks a good spawning year vs a poor one.

FWC is currently in the process of completing a 10-year population analysis of Black Crappie. The goal of this study is to be able to best predict Black Crappie populations “boom and bust cycles” to better inform anglers of when to expect a good fishing year. We are currently in year six of the ten year study.

— If you have any comments on any information related in this article, please reach out to Sara Menendez at sara.menendez@myfwc.com