I honestly didn't know there could be a hybrid. So they were either black or hybrid, no vertical bands. A few of the smaller males had that black look you are talking about. Out of the last two Saturdays between me and my wife we caught 53 over 9 inches and probably that many more dinks.... of all those only 4 were white crappie, and they were probably the smallest of the keepers. I did talk to one other fisherman who said he thought the black crappie were spawned out but the whites had not started yet. I am finally having a year when I can go a lot (once a week) and try to keep up with what's going on. You Sir are a wealth of information and I thank you for taking the time to answer my questions! Another piece of the puzzle,,,I really haven't heard of any others catching them this shallow yet (I'm sure I'm not the only one) so I was hoping the spawn is just kicking off.