Crappie colors and egg sack colors?

I fished a new lake in SE Indiana yesterday, 6 acres or so. The waters I usually fish have all white crappie with noticeable vertical spotted stripes, well half of the crappie I caught yesterday had the stripes but the other half did'nt and all of them where very black in color actually the 2 biggest had coal black faces, is this a black crappies spawning colors? Also I have noticed the egg sacks are getting bigger and have more red veins recently, is this a sign they will spawn soon? I am interested in the changing colors of crappie and things to look for, I know the males tails will be red and worn looking when they are fanning the nest, just wanted to find out more about the seasonal changes.

The males turn very dark for the spawn. Red tails are less noticeable on crappies, IMO. All white crappies have the vertical stripes (even the dark males), black crappies don't have stripes, they are more speckled. Males of both species turn black for spawn.

It's my understanding that the egg sacs will have more and more small bright red blood veins, the closer the female is to spawning. They will get sort of mushy and off-yellow if she has gone too long without getting to spawn and she is re-absorbing the eggs.

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Originally Posted by vic n

The males turn very dark for the spawn. Red tails are less noticeable on crappies, IMO. All white crappies have the vertical stripes (even the dark males), black crappies don't have stripes, they are more speckled. Males of both species turn black for spawn..

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X2. The dark color you are seeing is a result of the hormones that are released in the males during the spawn.

Thanks guys, Ive just cant ever remember seeing Crappies that black. The lake I normally fish I have noticed the smaller fish a few weeks ago where almost solid white, now they are getting more color to them with a blueish cast to there backs, its just interesting to me how they go through color changes.

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Originally Posted by Tom 513

Thanks guys, Ive just cant ever remember seeing Crappies that black. The lake I normally fish I have noticed the smaller fish a few weeks ago where almost solid white, now they are getting more color to them with a blueish cast to there backs, its just interesting to me how they go through color changes.

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Tom, I'm betting that "a couple of weeks ago" the water was colder or not as clear as it is now, or the fish were quite a bit deeper ... hence the "white" coloration. The black markings on a male Crappie will get darker than normal when they're gearing up for the spawn, and some may even get almost totally black. It's especially noticeable on White Crappie males, since they normally have the same greenish back & stripes coloration as a White Crappie female ... but, the Black Crappie males can get pretty well covered in black, too.

If you're seeing the "blacker than normal" Crappie, chances are they are somewhere within the spawning ritual situation ... either pre-spawn, spawning, or post spawn nest guarding. When they go " courtin' ", they're not going to "dress" in their everyday "clothes" ... they'll put on their "suits" to get the attention of the finest ladies around !! :ThumbsUp

... cp :kewl

Pappy it was a while ago when the smaller fish where very white in color, water temps as I remember were high 40's low 50's. By the way I read Your post to my wife this morning and she got a chuckle out of the courtin park :highfive