The Florida Wildlife Commission is holding virtual public meetings this month to review black crappie regulations. The purpose of these meetings is to seek stakeholder input – by region – on a draft Black Crappie Management Plan, which utilizes a thorough review of the existing scientific literature and extensive communication with crappie anglers.
For members of the FFI Gulf Coast Council in northwest Florida, the meeting for all impoundments in the Northwest Region Management Zone is Tuesday, February 23. Time is 6:00pm to 8:00pm Central Time.
The meeting will be conducted via Microsoft Teams. To participate, send an email to crappie@myfwc.com and provide your name, email address, phone number, and which meeting you would like to attend. A link will be emailed back to you. Click on the link to join the meeting.
A copy of the Black Crappie Management Plan is available at this link.
Black crappie (Pomoxis Nigromaculatus) is a highly-valued game fish, popular with anglers during winter and spring. It spawns once per year, when water temperatures are between 64 and 72 degrees, with females laying anywhere from 11,000 to 188,000 eggs. While quite fecund, the spawn is highly susceptible to environmental conditions, sometimes resulting in erratic year classes. Recent studies show that stricter limits tend to smooth out highly cyclical recruitment. In deep South waters, crappie grow quite fast, reaching a length of 9″ at age 2, and 12″ at age 3.
