Great two days., Sort of.

Yesterday and last night was a blast. Crappie during the day, but 9 to 10 inches again, so they all went back in the lake.

These crappie need a couple years to grow.

Last night was like last week. More walleye and here is a very blurry release picture.LOL. A few more weeks until walleye opener.

It got cold and very damp around 3am so a bit of sleep, and back at it today late morning. Small fish again and a bit of a surprise. I met another Fishing Forum member. That being Attila. That is three times meeting a member by chance. Long story short. A very nice day, beautiful weather and good company for a few hours. Almost got skunked today with only 4 crappie caught, while Attila caught around 20 crappie. I was reasonably polite when we got invaded by a couple of boats. 1st boat was very polite. 2nd boat dropped anchor right beside my bobber. As mentioned I was mostly polite to the less than mannerly people in the other boat. Didn't want to appear rude in front of another member, just meeting for the first time. Anyways back to the fishing. By the time I was packed up there was 4 boats there and two of the neighbors had no room to fish. We left. So I was late for dinner tonight as usual. Missed dinner completely yesterday. LOL. Watching my Leafs losing right now. And checking in on my Yankees losing to the Jays. Going to go fishing after the game again. Maybe find where the bigger crappie are hiding.

Well done sir,on holding your temper.I likely would of have lost mine lol
So many ignorant people out there these days,no respect for each other.This is likely why you prefer night fishing.I also prefer to be away from crowds when it's time to fish.
Congrats on your catch! Keep on pursuing that trophy Crappie!

Yes unfortunately respect is becoming way less common these days, you did the right thing. If you got bent out of shape it would have ruined your day and not affected theirs anyway.

Well I did yell over a couple of times. But when one of them crossed over my line and then hooked my lure, I really had to grit my teeth. Waited 5 whole minutes telling Attila an old story while this guy was trying to separate his line from my 2nd favourite crank bait. It has really gotten bad there in the last 7 years. It was a place for the neighbours to gather and fish and enjoy the weather and celebrate spring. We would catch hundreds and hundreds and thousands of crappie and bluegill after ice out every year. Most of those fish were released by all that live there. Some fish were kept and shared with others on a regular basis. Year after year this has gone on in our tight little community. Respecting Mother Nature and protecting the fishery. Then in 2017 it all changed. Boat after boat after boat coming with 2 or 3 on board keeping their limit of large, medium, and small fish day after day for a few weeks every year since 2017. The entire street watched from their back yards and docks as the invaders came in to pillage and steal from Mother Nature. We have had the police and the MNR there on many occasions as properties were trespassed. Private docks damaged and garbage as well as many dead fish left behind from cruel anglers that don't know how to remove a hook from a very fragile creature. I have seen the ticket book out and some violaters being caught at the ramp. The MNR does a good job, but they cant be at every ramp on every lake every day. You have all seen my pictures here on the forum. I won't ever deny that I keep and my family eats many fish. Dozens and dozens eaten every season, but hundreds and hundreds are released. If we all respected the world and each other more, what a great place it would be to live. I still have hope, but it fades a little more every time I see what I saw yesterday. Do the math. 4 boats...12 anglers times a 30 crappie limit. Dozens and dozens of bluegill and sunfish and many fish dead or left to die floating in the water. This happens on a daily basis every year. But I still have hope. Maybe it's denial. Maybe I am just stupid or foolish to believe that people can be good. Stay safe.

I owe everything to my better half. Many years ago she turned me from a real life hoodlum to a reasonable, respectable member of society. It was a slow process with a few life changing events. LOL. I am usualy good at holding my temper now. As for the crappie, it may not be one of us that finally breaks the crappie record. When the reelingmachine posted that monster 16 inch crappie 2 weeks ago, it started me thinking. That is a large school of big crappie that roams that lake. Those big crappie are going to be much bigger next year and the following years. I bet in two years he beats my record for black crappie in the Karwarthas. The younger kids are leaving us behind with their fancy new technology. LOL. All we have left is our secret crappie spots that no one will ever find. That is until we leave the directions in our last will and testament.

this is pretty much going on everywhere there are panfish in the spring hoards of boats all team fishing and keeping the limits and then some and you think they stop there be back tomorrow and the next day. they are only there to fill the freezers and you think you will find a crappie bigger than 10inches in these lakes nope they dont let them grow that big. just small stunned fish and those will be fished out too soon.

Agreed there are many places that have these same issues. I am very fortunate to have one spot on Balsam and one spot on Sturgeon where I have never seen another living soul fishing in all my visits to these areas. That's where there was finaly some peace and quiet last night.

With the combo of internet and simply more people, I’ve found you just have to be happy for these hidden gems, and hold your cards close! There’s so many resources online now to find these spots. In fact I’ve been planning a canoe trip this summer and found an abundance of knowledge with the press of a couple of buttons. It’s really awesome that I was able to do that but it comes with a price. Having said that, no matter where you are, you should be respecting nature and each other. I never got the fishing on top of people thing… I’d be the guy way on the other end of the lake, isn’t that better for both of us??

I owe everything to my better half. Many years ago she turned me from a real life hoodlum to a reasonable, respectable member of society. It was a slow process with a few life changing events. LOL. I am usualy good at holding my temper now. As for the crappie, it may not be one of us that finally breaks the crappie record. When the reelingmachine posted that monster 16 inch crappie 2 weeks ago, it started me thinking. That is a large school of big crappie that roams that lake. Those big crappie are going to be much bigger next year and the following years. I bet in two years he beats my record for black crappie in the Karwarthas. The younger kids are leaving us behind with their fancy new technology. LOL. All we have left is our secret crappie spots that no one will ever find. That is until we leave the directions in our last will and testament.

Yes RM has started to figure things out.Ive bumped into him on a few occasions. I guess that's good for him as he knows he's in the right direction lol
This livescope technology is really putting a hit on the Crappie population.Turning even the novices into sir Izumis.Maybe time for some changes on our limits.Imo

I just love the crowds...NOT....This is like rush hour.

Well you know my opinion of hi-tech fish finders. You do need them for big, deep bodies of water, like the great lakes and Simcoe. But the Kawartha lakes... no... uh uh...forget it. Half the adventure is hunting the fish down. The other half is catching them and eating them. Yup a lower limit would help a lot. And a 11 inch minimum slot size would guarantee at least one spawn maybe two before it's caught and taken out of the lake. More eggs, more babies, more big crappie.

Living up to your Avatar name - nice work!