More than anything else, the restrictions help spread out harvest over the course of a full fishing season. After learning more about the biology of crappie in the Sunflower State, you’ll see why I make that point.

“We know from many years of research that the life spans of our black and white crappie is 5 to 6 years,” Austin said. “That’s all you’re going to get from them here in Kansas. Black bass, walleyes and catfish will live 10 to 12 years, but not our crappie. And it takes them four years, on average, to reach the 10-inch minimum length.”

Think about that: It’s tough to argue that the regulations are actually protecting crappie when the fish reaching the minimum length have only a couple of years to live. Instead, consider that the 20-crappie creel limits on Hillsdale and Perry are definitely permitting more anglers to share the bounty of slabsides during the time when these fish are at their prime.

“There are many times that we do consider regulations to protect certain species of fish on certain bodies of water,” Austin said, “but the regulations on Hillsdale and Perry really don’t do that for the crappie. The fish simply don’t live long enough after reaching the length limit to truly benefit in a way that you could call the regulations protective.”

Think about it another way: Perry and Hillsdale annually show up on the list of Kansas’ best crappie reservoirs, but so does Toronto, where there are no length or daily-creel restrictions in place. This information suggests that Hillsdale and Perry, which definitely get more fishing pressure, benefit because more anglers have a chance to catch limits of fish on more outings. The regulations really do spread out the harvest more than they protect these lakes’ crappie.

Austin even noted a situation in which a minimum-length limit had a negative impact on a Kansas crappie fishery -- the one at Cedar Bluff reservoir out west. “The 10-inch minimum-length limit did much more harm than good on Cedar Bluff because the crappie tended to stockpile in numbers below the minimum length,” the biologist noted.

“In other words, they weren’t growing fast enough for the length limit to have the impact we intended it to have. The fishing there actually improved when we removed the limit.

“We monitor crappie fisheries statewide on an ongoing basis,” Austin added. “Because of that, it’s possible for us to make changes in regulations quickly to respond to situations that might arise. We know that our anglers rate crappie at or near the top as their favorite species of game fish, and we focus on managing them to provide the best opportunities possible.”

That includes managing smaller bodies of water, not just the large reservoirs. In 2008, there will be several community and state fishing lakes offering excellent crappie fishing. As has been the case with the large reservoirs, the list of smaller lakes looks familiar.

“Ottawa and Miami state fishing lakes will have good crappie fishing again this year,” Austin said. “Marion County Lake will be another good spot. Wellington and Eureka city lakes also are going to be among the better small crappie lakes in Kansas this season.”

All names sound very familiar, which they should. These waters represent a mix of structure, forage and water levels that combine in a recipe for crappie production that is hard to match just about anywhere in the country.