Crappie less than 10 inches in length must be released at Hillsdale Reservoir beginning on Jan. 1.

Implementation of a 10-inch minimum length limit on crappie at Hillsdale has been under consideration for more than five years.

Anglers should expect good crappie fishing at Hillsdale during 2003. Fish sampling conducted during October showed that 38 percent of the crappie population exceeded the 10-inch minimum length limit.

Close monitoring of the crappie population will continue and some new monitoring projects are also in the developmental stages.