Here is a photo showing the different between black and white crappie.Attachment 59436
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Here is a photo showing the different between black and white crappie.Attachment 59436
The bars always give the whites away. Oh, and they fight completely different.
In college I was taught that 5-6 dorsal spines was a white crappie and 7-8 dorsal spines was a black crappie and that it was not reliable to judge off of color alone, especially during the spawning season. With that said, those may very well be white and black crappie. Can't tell by the picture.
The spines are foolproof, but since learning of that, I've checked the ones I've caught. Bars vs. spots are foolproof also and align with the spine #s 100%. Those are clearly a white and a black.
The whites don't put up much of a fight, the blacks are like a bull bream:p Hard to get em out of those treetops
Yup. The whites are like a wet rag. The blacks at Spring bayou make a run as fast as any bass or bull bluegill.Quote:
Originally Posted by Duck Butter
The most obvious difference is the shape of the nose. One long, the other much more blunt. If someone can't tell the difference on the nose shape or the color, you haven't caught enough crappie.
Well said tiger
That source must have been somebody who doesn't white perch fish very much j/kQuote:
Originally Posted by buckincrazy
They are still sac a lait, as far as I am concerned.
must agree about how to truly identify the fish..counting the dorsal fins.....but that fight thing....those big white crappie on the point this week were pulling drag...flying out the water like tarpon...think when they are full of roe..they are sluggish..other than than that...they pull like a freight train...
I'm just glad to see a crappie
Blacks are a meatier fish compared to whites of equal length.
Ive never seen an instance anywhere at any time that the distinct bars vs scattered black spots wasnt a DEAD giveaway.
Are black crappies the male white crappie that have turned black because of the spawn
No ... but that is the most common misconception & misidentifying factor. Black Crappie are spotted on their sides, and White Crappie have vertical bars down their sides. When White Crappie males put on their spawning colors, they "can" become marked so heavily that the black pigmentation runs together and the bars are not as discernible as they normally are. Male Black Crappie can also have their black spot pigmentation cover so much of their body, that they can be confused with the over-pigmented male White Crappie.Quote:
Originally Posted by CANDYMAN_AND_POPCORNLADY
Here's an article that has some good identification pics/info : http://www.tnfish.org/SpeciesFishInf...latus_TWRA.htm (and, yes ... I do have permission from Jim Negus to post those pictures)
... cp :kewl
They all look the same to me after you put them in the grease.
Well I bet a months salary that the top is a white and the black is on bottom I caught enough to know the differenceQuote:
Originally Posted by buckincrazy
YepQuote:
Originally Posted by crappdaddy
half of a box of both.:biggrinQuote:
Originally Posted by BEAR2010
What about the gold crappie?
Quote:
Originally Posted by CrappiePappy
I can't think of any instance where I've had to count spines on the dorsal fin. The 2 fish look completely different. If the coloration doesn't give it away, the shape of the fish is different, size of the mouth different. The guys picture is more than you need to distinguish if you're familiar with crappie.
They do exist, but they're a genetic freak & only rarely occur. They're not a specific separate species .... just have a lack of black/white pigmentation, allowing the yellow pigmentation to take over.Quote:
Originally Posted by jig rig
... cp :kewl
IMO it's their environment, not genetics that gives them the gold/yellow.Quote:
Originally Posted by CrappiePappy
They are not rare in brackish waters. Catch em all the time.
I like the blacks with ketchup, but prefer the whites with tarter sauce.
What no hot sauce? :) Been to Henderson lately?Quote:
Originally Posted by mermentau
It's kind of a no brainer to me but I've caught a lot. Been doin it for a while. I've never counted dorsal fins just been able to look and tell.
But are they the solid gold color, with no black or white coloration on them, whatsoever ??Quote:
Originally Posted by jig rig
I know they do, sometimes, exhibit a golden hue over their lower body ... where they'd normally be mostly white. But, if you look at images of "Gold Crappie" (Google Images) you will only see two pictures of "solid gold" colored Crappie. One was caught in Kerr Reservoir, NC ... the other from the Chippewa Flowage in MN. By a dorsal fin count, both fish are likely Black Crappie. And I don't think either one of the waters that these fish came from would be considered "brackish".
... cp :kewl
Tomorrow I'll give it a go.Quote:
Originally Posted by jig rig
Good luck.I'm hoping for a river trip Thursday PMQuote:
Originally Posted by mermentau
I've had a couple of instances where I have had to go to the dorsal fins for a spine count to be sure during the spawn. Those males can fool you at timesQuote:
Originally Posted by CrappiePappy
I know them as soon as I see them. Kinda like catching a Kentucky. There is a look you get to know, and no color change is going to confuse that.
^^^^^^ what he said!!!!!!
biggest question you should ask is whether you are going to fillet them with an electric carving knife or a manual knife :Rofl
I catch a bunch of both, but people say u never catch any blacks!! I see the difference and think I do
Sometimes it seems the whites are deeper and the blacks shallower.
Hard to tell when they come out of muddy water IMO
I have noticed the blacks are in the brush/grass and the whites are in the open water for some reason. Don't know why.
😂😂😂😂Quote:
Originally Posted by jig rig
Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
Thats just the way they roll:biggrinQuote:
Originally Posted by Tracker123