On the typical water, half the crappies anglers catch now go back. The median share of black crappie released on 110 waters with angler creel surveys in both eras rose from 34.1% in surveys up to 2002 to 51.0% in surveys from 2012 to 2023. Each water is matched only against itself, and its share rose on 74.5% of those waters. More than half the crappies were released on 23 of the 110 waters in the early era and on 59 in the recent era.
IFish Going Back
Crappie Release on the Typical Water Climbed From 34.1% to 51.0%
That gives a harvest figure a different meaning. The number kept on the typical water now covers only about half the crappies caught, so start with catch when judging a crappie lake.
These are state agency angler-interview creel surveys that the U.S. Geological Survey compiled in its CreelCat database. Release share means fish released divided by fish caught, covering all anglers in a survey whatever they fished for. It counts every fish put back, including fish anglers had to release under length or bag rules. CreelCat does not say why a fish went back. For each species we compared each water's median share in one era with its median share in the other.
Swipe table to see every column
| Species | Waters | Wisconsin waters | Early median % | Late median % | Change, points | Waters up % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black crappie | 110 | 83 | 34.1 | 51 | +16.9 | 74.5 |
| Yellow perch | 137 | 107 | 67.1 | 84.1 | +17 | 75.9 |
| Bluegill | 119 | 107 | 64.8 | 75.4 | +10.6 | 70.6 |
| Northern pike | 149 | 95 | 76.2 | 86.4 | +10.2 | 73.8 |
| Walleye | 166 | 102 | 57.1 | 67 | +9.9 | 70.5 |
| Smallmouth bass | 168 | 97 | 89.2 | 97.9 | +8.7 | 71.4 |
| Largemouth bass | 120 | 85 | 93.2 | 96.7 | +3.5 | 56.7 |
IISpecies Compared
Perch Kept Pace With Crappie While Bass Began Near the Top
Yellow perch made as big a move as crappie. On 137 waters the median perch release share rose from 67.1% to 84.1%, gaining 17.0 points compared with 16.9 for crappie. The share rose on 75.9% of those waters. Bluegill made a smaller gain, rising from 64.8% to 75.4% on 119 waters.
Bass release rates were already high in the early era. Smallmouth release rose from 89.2% to 97.9% on 168 waters. Largemouth rose from 93.2% to 96.7% on 120 waters and increased on only 56.7% of them. Northern pike rose from 76.2% to 86.4% on 149 waters and walleye from 57.1% to 67.0% on 166. On waters where those species have a minimum length limit, fish too short to keep make up part of the share.
IIILater Gains
Crappie and Perch Made Their Biggest Move After 2011
Crappie release rose recently. Among 47 waters with crappie surveys in all three eras, the median release share rose from 36.1% up to 2002 to 40.0% from 2003 to 2011. The share then jumped to 50.7% from 2012 to 2023. On 58 such waters perch rose from 63.5% to 70.6% and then to 85.3%.
Bass and bluegill made their moves earlier. On 98 waters smallmouth release rose from 86.8% to 96.6% by the middle era and then stayed at 96.8%. Bluegill rose from 62.9% to 73.3% and then reached 74.7%. Walleye differed by region. Outside Wisconsin walleye release rose from 16.3% to 38.0% by the middle era and then stayed at 38.6% on 50 waters, while the 41 Wisconsin walleye waters gained only a little at each step.
Wisconsin has 30 of the 47 crappie waters and 42 of the 58 perch waters, and the Wisconsin DNR had new panfish rules planned for some of its lakes from 2016. The crappie timing holds after dropping waters flagged for a possible rule change with median release shares of 36.5%, 36.3% and then 50.6% across the three eras on 42 remaining waters. The pattern is weaker outside Wisconsin at 41.6%, 39.7% and 44.2% on only 17 waters. Outside Wisconsin perch rose at both steps from 59.5% to 68.6% and then 78.5% on 16 waters.
Swipe table to see every column
| Species | Waters in all three eras | Surveys up to 2002 | Surveys 2003 to 2011 | Surveys 2012 to 2023 | Up to 2002 median % | 2003 to 2011 median % | 2012 to 2023 median % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black crappie | 47 | 109 | 112 | 84 | 36.1 | 40 | 50.7 |
| Yellow perch | 58 | 190 | 133 | 116 | 63.5 | 70.6 | 85.3 |
| Bluegill | 44 | 79 | 90 | 87 | 62.9 | 73.3 | 74.7 |
| Northern pike | 74 | 176 | 262 | 229 | 72 | 79.7 | 85.4 |
| Walleye | 91 | 265 | 345 | 318 | 49 | 51.3 | 57.3 |
| Smallmouth bass | 98 | 252 | 407 | 405 | 86.8 | 96.6 | 96.8 |
| Largemouth bass | 56 | 169 | 186 | 169 | 90.4 | 96.6 | 96.5 |
Swipe table to see every column
| Species | Waters without flagged | Without flagged, up to 2002 % | Without flagged, 2003 to 2011 % | Without flagged, 2012 to 2023 % | Waters without Wisconsin | Without Wisconsin, up to 2002 % | Without Wisconsin, 2003 to 2011 % | Without Wisconsin, 2012 to 2023 % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black crappie | 42 | 36.5 | 36.3 | 50.6 | 17 | 41.6 | 39.7 | 44.2 |
| Yellow perch | 52 | 63.5 | 71.3 | 84.5 | 16 | 59.5 | 68.6 | 78.5 |
| Bluegill | 39 | 61.8 | 72.4 | 72.8 | 4 | 28.8 | 38.1 | 42.2 |
| Northern pike | 67 | 64.4 | 78.9 | 83.8 | 39 | 44.8 | 77.8 | 80.6 |
| Walleye | 84 | 48.7 | 46.7 | 55.5 | 50 | 16.3 | 38 | 38.6 |
| Smallmouth bass | 94 | 86.8 | 96.5 | 96.6 | 62 | 80.8 | 94.9 | 94.7 |
| Largemouth bass | 55 | 90.1 | 96.5 | 96.3 | 24 | 92.5 | 95.9 | 98.3 |
IVChecking the Rise
Release Still Rises Without Wisconsin and Without Flagged Waters
With Wisconsin making up 83 of the 110 crappie waters and 107 of the 137 perch waters, the first test removes every Wisconsin water. Crappie release still climbs from 36.3% to 46.4% on 27 waters and perch from 71.4% to 81.9% on 30. Walleye release goes from 28.3% to 43.2% on 64 waters and pike from 53.5% to 81.1% on 54.
Rule changes are the second worry because a new limit can force releases. We flagged waters where rules may have changed. The Wisconsin DNR's panfish adaptive management plan from 2015 names 133 study lakes and lays out new bag rules for 97 of them planned from 2016. One daily option was "A total of 15 panfish but no more than 5 of any one species". We flagged those 97 while leaving its 36 reference lakes unflagged. Flagging all 133 study lakes including the 36 reference lakes and dropping flagged waters leaves 97 crappie waters at 35.8% to 50.7%, barely different from the main result without flagged waters of 35.2% to 51.3% on 99 waters. We also flagged any water where the mean length of fish kept rose an inch or more between eras, which may signal a stricter length limit. After dropping flagged waters crappie release rises from 35.2% to 51.3% on 99 waters and perch from 67.3% to 84.1% on 123. We did not flag rule changes outside Wisconsin.
The Wisconsin DNR gives the statewide rule in the lake notes of its 2026 fishing report. "The panfish regulation is the statewide standard of 25 panfish/day with no minimum length limit." On a lake with that rule no crappie has to go back because of length, and the rule only sends one back once the angler already has 25 panfish.
Swipe table to see every column
| Species | Waters without Wisconsin | Early median % | Late median % | Waters without flagged | Early median % | Late median % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black crappie | 27 | 36.3 | 46.4 | 99 | 35.2 | 51.3 |
| Yellow perch | 30 | 71.4 | 81.9 | 123 | 67.3 | 84.1 |
| Bluegill | 12 | 37.2 | 52.9 | 106 | 64.9 | 72.6 |
| Northern pike | 54 | 53.5 | 81.1 | 132 | 76.6 | 86.6 |
| Walleye | 64 | 28.3 | 43.2 | 156 | 57 | 66.2 |
| Smallmouth bass | 71 | 82.9 | 94.8 | 163 | 89.4 | 97.6 |
| Largemouth bass | 35 | 91.9 | 96.2 | 119 | 92.9 | 96.7 |
VReading Release Shares
Wisconsin Counts Run High, Leaving Shares to Tell the Story
We removed 2,802 of 7,732 surveys that recorded no released fish at all. Many older Michigan surveys recorded walleye and pike releases but no panfish releases. We therefore also removed 5,656 of 36,565 species rows with 20 or more fish caught and none released. Leaving those rows in would set the early crappie median at 27.6% on 125 waters. Most of those zeros fall in the early era, so the rise may be a little low if some were real.
On 8 of 9 Wisconsin lakes compared with the DNR's printed creel reports, CreelCat's walleye catch was 2.02 to 2.34 times the DNR total while angler hours were 1.07 to 1.13 times. At Sand Lake in Sawyer County the number of fish kept was high by about the same factor, leaving the shares close. The catch and harvest in its 2023-24 DNR creel report put walleye release at 66.9% compared with 67.0% in CreelCat and black crappie at 21.0% compared with 24.9%. Every lake we checked was surveyed in 2022-23 to 2023-24.
Swipe table to see every column
| Species | CreelCat caught | WDNR caught | Ratio | CreelCat kept | WDNR kept | Ratio | CreelCat release % | WDNR release % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Walleye | 8,397 | 3,933 | 2.1 | 2,774 | 1,301 | 2.1 | 67 | 66.9 |
| Yellow perch | 10,195 | 5,095 | 2 | 1,486 | 808 | 1.8 | 85.4 | 84.1 |
| Black crappie | 3,214 | 1,383 | 2.3 | 2,413 | 1,092 | 2.2 | 24.9 | 21 |
| Northern pike | 1,536 | 738 | 2.1 | 188 | 91 | 2.1 | 87.8 | 87.7 |
VILake Rule Choices
Check a Lake's Release Share Before Supporting Tighter Panfish Rules
Our read is that crappie and perch release is heading toward where bass release already was in surveys up to 2002, and most of that move on these mostly Wisconsin waters came after 2011. Before you support a tighter panfish rule on your lake, get its latest creel survey and read the share of crappies and perch released next to catch and harvest. If half the crappies are already going back, harvest tells only part of the story.
NOTES AND SOURCES
- Source: U.S. Geological Survey, The U.S. Inland Creel and Angler Survey Catalog (CreelCat), ScienceBase data release.
- Also: Wisconsin DNR, An Adaptive Management Project for Panfish (2015), Appendix C list of study lakes.
- Also: Wisconsin DNR, Wisconsin fishing report 2026 (current lake regulations).
- Scope: Angler intercept creel surveys compiled in USGS CreelCat that logged kept and released fish, 1977 to 2023. Each water is compared with itself, the median release share of its surveys in 1977 to 2002 against the median of its surveys in 2012 to 2023. Species-level rows only.
- Method: SAMPLED: caught, kept and released are agency expanded creel estimates. DERIVED: release share = released divided by caught for each survey and species, the median of each water's surveys in each era, the median across waters, and the share of waters whose release share rose. Flags: Wisconsin waters that WDNR's 2015 panfish plan assigned a new panfish rule (97 of the 133 lakes on its study-lake list, with new bag rules planned from 2016, panfish only. the 36 reference lakes are not flagged), and waters where the mean length of kept fish rose an inch or more between eras, a possible sign of a stricter length limit (Wisconsin records this field, most states do not).
- Limits: Released counts every fish that went back, including fish under a length limit or over a bag limit that anglers had to release. CreelCat does not say why a fish was released.
- Limits: Wisconsin waters make up most of the sample for every species, so the overall medians lean on Wisconsin creel surveys. Results without Wisconsin are shown for each species.
- Limits: On 8 of 9 Wisconsin lakes checked against the Wisconsin DNR's printed creel reports, CreelCat's walleye catch runs 2.02 to 2.34 times the DNR total while angler hours run only 1.07 to 1.13 times. At Sand Lake kept fish ran high by about the same factor, so release shares came out close (walleye 67.0% in CreelCat and 66.9% in the DNR report, black crappie 24.9% against 21.0%). All the lakes checked are 2022-23 to 2023-24 surveys, so we compare shares and treat Wisconsin counts as about twice the DNR's figures.
- Limits: We could not trace length and bag rules lake by lake. We flagged Wisconsin panfish waters that WDNR's 2015 panfish plan assigned a new rule (97 of the 133 lakes on its study list), with rules planned from 2016, and waters where the mean length of kept fish rose an inch or more, which only Wisconsin records. A rise in kept length can also come from bigger fish. Rule changes elsewhere are not flagged.
- Limits: Rows that report no released fish were dropped as unrecorded. Some of those zeros may be real, mostly in the early era, so the early medians may run a little high and the rise a little low.
- Limits: Surveys in each era are not spread evenly over the years, and the early era reaches back to the 1970s on some waters.
- Limits: The medians are our arithmetic on agency creel estimates. They are a first pass and have not been peer reviewed.
Fully Drawn Research is an independent data analysis desk, not affiliated with any state wildlife agency, transportation agency, mapping provider or outfitter. Fully Drawn Research is an independent data and analysis desk. This paper reports FDR's own analysis of public agency and survey data. Harvest, catch and survey figures describe what hunters and anglers reported or what agencies counted or estimated, not how many animals or fish are present, and they reflect regulations and hunter or angler choices as well as wildlife numbers.
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