Interesting Crappie Behavior

I thought I would share some interesting information that I have observed from watching crappie. I have a few crappie in a big aquarium at home as I thought what a good opportunity to learn from the quary I seek to catch.

Observation 1
When putting live fish in the tank the crappie seems to always go for the brightest colored fish. I have mixed between gold fish and minnows and they seem to go for the bright orange goldfish first.


Observation 2
The crappie prefer to feed at eye level or slightly up and rarely down. It has to do with there eye position I think. I can watch there eyes as they single out there prey. Most of the time they lock onto one and follow it until the right opportunity and they open up there mouth and it forms a vacuum and the prey is inhaled. They hold onto there prey for sometimes a few minutes almost like they are suffocating it and then will gulp again and the prey is forced into there stomach. On this gulp I ALWAYS SEE a bunch of scales from the prey ejected from there gill slits.

Observation 3
The crappie will sometimes feed on up to 3 fish at a time holding them in there mouth and then swallow them.

Observation 4
The crappie will herd or corral the fish together as a team and strike individually on there prey. Once one of the crappie appear to be full the other one is on its own.

Observation 5
Sometimes the crappie will inhale a live fish, hold onto it for a minute or so and then spit it out. For what reason this is done I don't know but possibly it was not in there mouth in a position for the second ingestion swallow.

Observation 6
Crappie will strike more violently and swifter at a prey that is swimming and darting quicker than the others. The faster prey seems to trigger stikes more violently.

Observatin 7
Once the crappie are full they still will chase the smaller fish in the tank but not inhaling and holding them as usual but rather nipping at there tails.

From what I have observed on my home school of fish I can piece together what happens while on the water fishing. When I get strikes and there is no fish when I snatch my pole I can attribute this now to the nipping response I have observed and not that I was slow on the strike or I was a smaller fish that couldn't get the jig in its mouth. I can also conclude that when I see and feel the thump that this is from the vacuum of the fishes mouth when it inhaled my jig. I can also conclude that why at times I see a strike that I would call light and it is from the fish inhaling my jig at eye level and swimming and holding the jig in its mouth. The more violent strikes seem to come when my baits are trolled at higher speeds goes along with the observation seen at home with the quicker swimming goldfish.

Hope this helps some understand what happens when they are on the water fishing. I am sure I left out some things and not expanded on some enough too.

It is really neat to watch and learn the behavior of the fish.

Great info!

Good observations J.W.. Makes me wish I had a fish tank! Now you know why it is better to fish too shallow rather than too deep, LOL!! Also note the configuration of the mouth how the lower jaw extends further forward than the top making it easier to "scoop" upwards when inhaling that baitfish. How many times have we trolled along unknowing that a monster Crappie was cruising along under our boat holding the jig in it's mouth just deciding whether to spit it out or swallow. No one can get all of them but knowing when that is happening and being able to detect the bite a larger percentage of the time is one of the secrets of catching more fish!! Have you started testing jigs in the tank yet?? LOL!!

Pretty cool right there.....

Luvpt I am going I do that sometime soon, barbless I course. I want to test the crappie nibbles also vs non crappie nibble jig.

Until watching the crappie eat I always assumed they would inhale and swallow prey at same time but at least with my school they never do that instead hold onto bait for few minutes and then swallow it and ever time there is a puff of scales exhaled through gill slits on crappie. It is very obvious when they actually swallow them. Also the bright orange goldfish is easy to see in there mouth. It is almost like they suffocate the prey then swallow. Most of the time the bait is attacked head and when they are full it is from behind when they go into nipping mode.

Good stuff-

Now that is some good to know info. Thanks for the post.

That's one of the main reasons I like Hi-Vis line for spidderigging. A lot of times the line will be going in a different direction or just be slack letting me know a fish is on. I also like the Gold Crappie Nibbles with glitter because I feel that it simulates a baitfish strike in the brushpile thus starting a feeding spree.

Wow nice observations and thanks JW

Very good information. It would be interesting to see how they respond to Crappie Nibbles and liquid/paste scents.

Really good info, thanks for sharing.

I stopped at the bait store at Lake Nimrod to get some Berkley crappie nibbles yesterday and the fellow behind the register told me that Berkley was not making them anymore. I can't hardly believe they are discontinuing them. Would seem to me that they were a good seller. Guess you had buy what you can now.

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Originally Posted by Catahoula06

I stopped at the bait store at Lake Nimrod to get some Berkley crappie nibbles yesterday and the fellow behind the register told me that Berkley was not making them anymore. I can't hardly believe they are discontinuing them. Would seem to me that they were a good seller. Guess you had buy what you can now.

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Don't use Crappie nibbles myself. but I would not believe it till I saw it in writing. Someone was telling folks were catching 3/4 to 1 lb Bream on the lake too, all I can say is show me one.

Think its the gold crappie nibbles that they discontinued. I seen a couple jars in Jboro the other day and they were telling me the same thing. I 'll just use the white ones.

Now back to the thread...
Muddy up the water and let us know what colors work better.
turn out the lights and let us know which ones work better in the dark.
Pour a gallon of coffee in there and let us know which colors work best in stained water.
:popcorn

Good Information J.W. Thanks for the post. Please do a follow up on the jigs and crappie nibblets .:biggrin

Good post. Thanks for the info.

interesting

Thanks for sharing. I watch our fish too (no Crappies). When they suspend, I like to troll. When they are on the bottom of the tank, I fish more twoard the bottom. But, it is hard to guage the depth they are at.
DP

i have just read a book on crappie fishing by Keith Sutton it says in the book tht when they swallow their pray the scales fall through there gills and it starts a feeding frenzey

Thanks for the good read JW.

I feel it's my duty to go to one of my condos that has fish on it and dump out a tube of glitter. Ya'll might be on to something.

Wonder if I should but some scent on the glitter first and what colors would be best.

Nice observation JW. Now get yer butt in that new boat and go catch a few. Quit lookin at yer fish tank!!! Lol


Big River Marine
Bill Burnett
870-635-0202

Next time I feed I will try to get a video of some behavior and try the nibble vs non nibble

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Originally Posted by DRPEPPER

Thanks for sharing. I watch our fish too (no Crappies). When they suspend, I like to troll. When they are on the bottom of the tank, I fish more twoard the bottom. But, it is hard to guage the depth they are at.
DP

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Dude,how big's your aquarium? And does your wife and children know you do this?

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Originally Posted by dblevens

Dude,how big's your aquarium? And does your wife and children know you do this?

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It is strange at our house. My wife will not let me have a cat or dog. But, she likes the fish and they are her pets. I have thought about putting some roseies in there to see if she can raise them for me.
DP

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RCC

Thanks for the good read JW.

I feel it's my duty to go to one of my condos that has fish on it and dump out a tube of glitter. Ya'll might be on to something.

Wonder if I should but some scent on the glitter first and what colors would be best.

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I saw Crappie Pro and MidsouthMan with glitter all over them at camp. I just thought they had been some where they shouldn't have or a fairy had dusted them or something. I should have known it was somekind of fishing trick.
DP

I just left the BPS in bossier city and found myself staring in the tank and noticed all the crappie suspended at around the same depth and all of them seemed to be angled up as the rest of the fish were just hovering level. Maybe this contributes to them biting upward. Just my observation.

I have seen Cabelas feeding the crappie/sunfish tank, too. That is definitely interesting and informative. As the initial feeding frenzy slows down you see crappies stalking minnows and sunfish chasing them. The stalking crappie seems to prefer the minnow holding steady as when the minnow freezes and when it is taken you can definitely see how the "up-bite" works.

But you can add to this ice fishing where they don't seem to notice any bait except what comes up from underneath them.

Crappies don't always forage on minnows, and when they aren't they may very well be more bottom oriented than suspended. In an active bit I take most crappies as the lure settles to them. But in many other times they take what comes up to them with a special interest in what passes by them going up.

Besides whatever effect comes from the glitter they may produce themselves, we will often find crappies under and feeding into the bottom layer of actively feeding sunnies. They seem to be taking what settles through the sunfish layer. There are definitely times where it is difficult to get an offering either plastic or minnow through the sunfish to the crappies below them.

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Originally Posted by bluethunder

Now that is some good to know info. Thanks for the post.

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x2

Ive been doning the same thing only in a 10'x3' pool with some brush and concrete blocks for covor we have been playing around with these things for a while i think there 15 crappie 12 brim 4 goggle eyes and 2 bass there real fun to watch when we are changing the water they like to play and for about 20-45seconds are some pretty amazing creatures lol especially when they are not fed for 1-2 days.

Wow , good stuff . # 6 i think ? puzzles me , seems the sloooowerrrr i retrive , the more bites ? Dang , now I got to sleep on all of this . Thanks for sharing .