rippinlip
I miss Trader Horns. Cheap ammo

Maaaaaan me too. 

I bought so much junk when the one in Pgh closed. Still have some nets and bags from it

I think the only ice was in the shallow coves, I bet its all open after the rain today. 

Porktown
 I’d have to imagine they are competing with gamefish fingerlings. I know in years past with good freezes, it seemed to thin them out. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Gizzard shad are planktivores, straining minute organic particles with their gill rakers into their pharyngeal organ which is thought to concentrate and process food for swallowing. They also feed heavily on detritus found on bottom sediments, individuals consume an average of 13% of their wet weight biomass in dry sediment each day. Their diet remains largely similar at different sizes and has been found to contain algae, phytoplankton, zooplankton, and plant debris. Because Gizzard shad are primary consumers, extremely large populations can be supported. Fry feed primarily on copepods and cladocerans, whereas adults consume large amounts of phytoplankton and zooplankton. Gizzard shad is part of the diet of at least 17 game fishes some of which include Walleyes, White Bass, Largemouth Bass, White Crappie, Gars, Black Crappie, Sauger, Yellow Trout, Catfish, Freshwater Drum, and Lake Trout. The Striped Bass and Muskellunge have been introduced into reservoirs to prey on Gizzard shad.  Waterfowl also prey on the species. Winter die-offs cause individuals to float to the surface where they are consumed by crows, turkey vultures, bald eagles, and waterfowl. Gizzard shad grow rapidly in shallow, fertile impediments with abundant food and long growing seasons


 
 

Chris, it is the big ones that eat the plankton that would be of any concern. That is what the gamefish fry and alewives eat. The baby gizzard shad are excellent bait, those 15” ones, not even sure if musky will mess with them. Considering there are so many 7”-10” that I’d imagine are a little easier for them to eat.

Chris, how do you make your crappie and perch? Others feel free to chime in.

I focused most of my effort this year on crappie (deeper structure), wipers and wasting a ton of time for 3 walleye…. I’m pretty happy with results, obviously, not banner day all outings. But I learned a lot this year, or just got lucky a few more times. Still a few years off of retirement fishing, so don’t get out nearly as much as I’d like.

Eating wise, walleye hands down. Due to size, I like perch best, but a keeper walleye is bigger than any perch I ever caught. They both fight like a wet rag. Crappie don’t really pull drag either. I have eaten some cats and pretty good. I remember our conversations with Zielie Sam (always liked that dude, hope he is well), summer cats don’t taste as good as cooler water. So most that I catch go back. But every so often I add them to the cleaning. Most that I catch are really good.

Crappie are good fried, but their meat is sort of “mushy”. More, extremely flakey. Blackened is good, but often turns into ground meat. Great for tacos. I tried skin on whole, but too many small bones. Skin on filleted is good if you can get the skin crispy and meat not dried out. I have some skin on fillets that I am going to try breaded fried. So much more work to scale, then fillet.

I love getting skin on salmon when on sale. Skin it and then air fry the skin for 10 minutes (with salt & pepper or other seasoning). Leave 1/8” to get the red meat. Which ends up tasting fantastic when made with the skin? So good, but salmon is super oily and thicker skin, so seems to really fry. Going to try crappie, but doubt as good. Would be hard to leave an 1/8” on anything under 14”. Not sure if you guys have a “Fresh Thyme” north of town, but their seafood deals are pretty good. Coho fillets for $5.99/lb at times. They do jumbo shrimp for $4.99/lb. Snow crab legs for $5.99/lb at times. Usually $6.99, but not too bad. I’m betting anll are from some rather sketchy South Asian fishing grounds or farming practices. But taste good and priced right…. My game fish is probably close to $50/lb if you add up all costs, without paying for labor and processing the catch to a meal.