Reddish Fins on Crappie

Hey guys, wondering why the fish we been catching are turning a reddish color on the anal fin and tail fins especially? They are not this color before they go into the live well. At first, I chalked it up to being gill hooked and just bleeding. The ones attached below all were hooked in the mouth, no bleeders. So is it the heat causing this in the live well or is it stress or a combo of both? Buddy says he read it was stress, but says he don't believe it. I can't find anything on the subject, any suggestions?

Also, still seeing eggs in a good many as well. And they look normal / healthy in color.

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I'm guessing heat related stress. I would start putting a cooler full of ice in the boat instead of using the live well when the weather turns hot.

Lack of oxygen and heat stress

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Some still spawning.On our lakes.Have this red coloring from fanning bed's.and rubbing against structure to deposit egg's.Water temps still in the 70's.

Thanks for the responses, I'm going to chalk it up to heat stress along with lack of oxygen. Will try to utilize a thermal bag with ice in the live well since I'm limited on space.

And yes Jackie, I'm still seeing healthy eggs in fish in deep water. I've never noticed the red coloration to this extent in any other spawners. I've have seen a lot of beat of tail fins with some discoloration, but it was instantly noticeable, this is happening during storage.

On a side note about late spawners. I know high waters are good for fish and there spawning activities, but I often wonder if it doesn't stress the fish somewhat as well as the fishermen trying to find them. I mean so much water spread out makes it difficult to find fish for us, how does it effect them funding each other. Then take in to account the ones that didn't spawn in March, April and May and the water is dropping like crazy. Oh well, probably nothing to it. And as far as I can tell the populations are healthy as ever on the three lakes I fish. And surface temps here are in the mid 80's jackie53.

Wow! That is some nice crappie.

Been noticing the same thing. Still taste the same though.


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Me and you have the same boat and I use a cooler in my boat so im sure you can get one in yours, Wouldn't put fish in a livewell this time of year.

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Originally Posted by slabin

Me and you have the same boat and I use a cooler in my boat so im sure you can get one in yours, Wouldn't put fish in a livewell this time of year.

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Yes sir, I believe I will use a hot / cold bag with ice in the live well to store cold drinks and look into a medium size cooler to store fish in. I have a large K2 Summit 120, but a bit to large for the boat. I'm looking into a36qt Xtreme Marine Cooler from Coleman right now. Seems like it will be the better fit for me. And you guys got the setup, I'm impressed with the two seats on the bow :highfive

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Originally Posted by Snubbys

Yes sir, I believe I will use a hot / cold bag with ice in the live well to store cold drinks and look into a medium size cooler to store fish in. I have a large K2 Summit 120, but a bit to large for the boat. I'm looking into a36qt Xtreme Marine Cooler from Coleman right now. Seems like it will be the better fit for me. And you guys got the setup, I'm impressed with the two seats on the bow :highfive

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It works well I like it