Please welcome Eyoyo Underwater Fishing Cameras.https://amzn.to/3siEgXn
I learned how long it takes them to grow to 13 inches or more. Now I tend to keep them between 10'' and 12". In PA, a 12 inch crappie is usually about 8 years old but a 14+" fish is nearly 20 years old. A 10-12 inch fish makes a good fillet but it takes far less time to replace that fish.
Enjoyed reading this. Usually 10" is my lower limit but don't have to worry much about the top end . I almost never keep more than 7 anyway since that is a couple nice meals for my wife and me and I don't like freezing them. A couple of the private lakes I fish have really nice crappie; average is 10-11 but rarely over 12". I surmise that there is mega competition for the same food base so once they hit ten it takes many years for them to get substantially bigger. Here's a few from my last trip; actually tossed back the largest since I had plenty.(Image removed from quote.)
Perch was the only keeper I got that day, a nice 11". Weeded through a bunch of small ones as well. There are some lakes around here (Poconos) where they actually average that size, but getting permission to fish them is another story.
we have a body of water that had a crappie problem tons of them but no size. DNR put no limits on the lake to try and encourage people to take out as many as possible. We went down and caught as many 7-8" crappies as our heart wanted. cleaning them was ok, (no rib meat) but ultimately was not worth the effort and i'm now 9-12" as our limits. Micah