Nearly all of our lakes are natural, heavily structured, contain large areas of cabbage and coontail, and have complex fish communities with walleye, lake trout, muskie, northern pike, yellow perch, and largemouth and smallmouth bass. "Outside of a few weeks in spring, when the fish are spawning, most northern anglers haven't traditionally fished for crappies. Smithers notes that anglers, through their fishing habits, and resource agencies, by their management strategies, have unwittingly aided blossoming crappie populations. More space means less competition for food and healthier, more robust fish. ![]() So, the first fish grow large, reproduce successfully and explode in numbers."Įven more to the point, Casselman notes that having "space" between the strong El Niño year-classes, as opposed to the fish pulling off successively strong hatches, benefits emerging crappie populations. There are also more nutrients and prey available in the system during these climate events. "Whenever that first crappie year-class explodes in a new lake, it is gigantic. ![]() And warm El Niño years give them a boost. Recruitment explodes and young-of-the-year fish move into connected waterways. After three or four years, they mature and start contributing additional year-classes. "What happens," explains Casselman, "is that the first few fish to find their way into a new system grow extremely large and do so quickly.
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