No i throw them in the live well and treat them just like the walleye. Maybe coming out of oahe makes them a little firmer but even in the ponds back east i never had that problem
I would put crappies up there with best eating fish. In reality i have had alot of different fish and when deep fried unless it is a big piece of shit with shitty breading it all tastes the same with hot sauce on it.
From kampeska over East and Oahe I have fried up lots of small mouth seems mixed in with walleye no one has ever known the difference. That is including some walleye snobs that won't eat fish that has been froze or even been in the fridge for mote than a few days.
A 2 pound bullhead in the middle of July in a small pond my dad said would taste like dirt. He said if he cleans it I am eating the whole thing. It was like scooping dirt and eating it. He made me choke the whole thing down.
1 for west river deer, 0 east river deer, 1 goat, 5 elk but just buying preference points this year , 3 for muzzy any deer. If it works out i will be hunting 3 bucks this year if it doesnt only 2.
There is a compact where if you loose your license in one state you can not get it in another.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_Wildlife_Violator_Compact#Member_States
Down here very few people target crappies so I don't think fishing has much affect. As long as we have flodded trees and weeds like on blue blanket and moose flats along with the deeper bays we will have them around.
The fish i caught last night are starting to get that football look and were full of fat. The crappies have been a nice addition for the last 5 years every spring it seems to get better with more and more of them i am hopping they will be a main stay for the future