USSFN:  4/08/05 - (Jackson, MS) - For the past few years, crappie tournaments have thrust Grenada Lake and its big crappie into the national spotlight, according to the Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks.  Officials say a Crappie USA tournament on March 26 was won with a seven fish limit of 20.46 pounds, an average of almost three pounds per fish.

So why are Grenada crappie so big? “Crappie grow fairly fast on all the north Mississippi flood control reservoirs (FCRs),” DWFP Fisheries Biologist Keith Meals of Oxford said.  “The world record white crappie came from Enid, and the state record
four-pound, four-ounce black crappie was caught in Arkabutla’s headwaters.”

Meals says the magic ingredient is time. Grenada is a long way from any major population centers, and past DWFP surveys have shown fishing pressure is less than half that of Sardis or Enid, giving crappie time to reach trophy size.  “A three-pound-plus crappie has spent 7 to 10 years eluding jigs, minnows, and crankbaits,” he said. “It’s like producing a Boone and Crockett buck. You need both good growth and age to get results.”

Many Grenada anglers are concerned that tournaments have increased fishing pressure. Media coverage of tournaments has many local anglers afraid they might kill the goose that laid the golden egg.  “The tournaments have little impact,” Meals said. “Up to a point, more
fishing improves the local economy, but a balance must be found so all benefit.”

DWFP surveys have found fishing effort on the FCRs more than doubled over the last 10 years, mostly on the three northernmost lakes. Trophy crappie have become scarce there, even at Arkabutla.  Meals and DWFP Fisheries Biologist Arthur Dunn are surveying Grenada
this year. If no big increase in pressure is seen since their 2001 survey, present regulations should continue to work. If effort escalates, stricter regulations may be needed to preserve Grenada’s outstanding fishery.

Since regulations need angler support, crappie anglers will be asked if they would support stricter regulations with a choice of a higher length limit, a lower creel limit, or both.  “I’m not looking at more than a 12-inch size limit or less than a 15-fish creel limit,” Meals said. “My recommendations could be more liberal.”

Tighter restrictions should not discourage tournaments, Meals said. Their daily limits are much lower than state regulations.  “Participants wanting to finish in the money on Grenada won’t be weighing in many crappie under a pound anyway,” he said. “We’re not trying to
run off the tournaments. We just want to make sure the big crappie are here to bring them back.”

Anglers not interviewed on the lake can voice their opinions at www.mdwfp.com. Anglers interested in fishing Grenada Lake can find fishing reports updated weekly at the same website.  Lake maps and camping information are available from the US Army Corps
of Engineers office at the dam at (662)226-6090.

Source:  Mississippi Wildlife Fisheries and Parks