Posted by cindy on February 12, 2003 at 15:09:20:
In Reply to: Anyone here keep crappie? posted by wayneminot on February 11, 2003 at 15:25:15:
...and I hope you'll post pics because I'd like to see that!
I used to catch all my natives at the end of summer, just before school started, on size 24 trout hooks and 1/2 lb. test line. I was only slightly concerned about getting caught at it (since I only kept fish that were 3-5 inches in length for my classroom 120 gallon native fish tank.) I justified it by releasing all at the beginning fo the following summer, when they were easily of legal size.
Then a really nice guy here emailed me a link to Carolina catalog for science teachers, and they SELL large mouth bass, channel catfish, and bluegill, all 1-3 inches, and eating pellets instead of live food, and you can keep them legally! I bought most of my my fish this year, and don't have to worry about an irate student calling the Mo. Dept. of Conservation on me. They were expensive, though, in the $14-16 range for three of each particular species. Shipping was $6. They did send four of each, in case one died, and none did. So I got four bass and four channel catfish for a total of $36. (I couldn't make myself pay $14 for three tiny bluegill, so I got out the fishing gear once more.)
That got me to thinking, and I hit the internet, and found a fish farm in southern Mo that does "fish days" in the fall, one day at each grain elevator in the small towns within an hour or two of me. They put the schedule on their website on the internet. They were considerably cheaper than Carolina, and had a much better choice of fish available, and basically delivered for free to within driving distance. I plan on buying a few small crappie along with the rest this fall. I forgot to find out if they have a minimum purchase, but if they do, they were cheap enough to go ahead and buy the minimum and release the surplus. You might hit the internet and see what is available in your state, if you would rather start with smaller ones and enjoy them longer. I find the young ones are quite feisty and have great "personalities", and seem to adapt better to captivity than larger fish.
Good luck.
cindy
