My father in law found a few crappie this morning. This is a pretty good catch for him.Attachment 202925
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My father in law found a few crappie this morning. This is a pretty good catch for him.Attachment 202925
Nice looking mess of fish.
Good job Goat!!
Did he get those pulling cranks?
Not sure but my guess would be yes.Quote:
Originally Posted by Stymie
Nice catch. Didn't realize that the big G had so many white crappie.
Yes, it is full of big white crappie again. We probably catch more whites than blacks now. Another reason for a little different spawn ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by RogerA
nice mess of fish!thats worth getting the grease hot:biggrin
Nice catch.
Guess it's time to start the deep fishing again. Nice looking mess of fish.
I have been catching more white crappie the last couple years than I ever have, but on my end the blacks still outnumber the whites by a long shot. I think a lot has to do with what part of the lake you are fishing.
I am sure that's true, they each like a little different habitat.Quote:
Originally Posted by crappieseeker
Don't think it has as much to do with end of the lake as it does the areas being fished and methods of fishing. I typically fish the lower end of the lake but know guys that load the boat with whites toward the upper end as well.
Actually I have come to believe that the whites we are catching on the big G are a result of an exceptional spawn about 5 years ago right after the big tornado day dropped a lot of timber in the water. the following year we were catching more undersized whites(6 to 8 inches) than since the 1960's and early 70's and I had hopes they were back but since then we never catch a white that is under 10 inches and never a dink and there seem to be fewer and fewer each year and they are getting bigger each year.They are all monsters in the 14 to 16 range which tells me that they are not spawning very much if at all.We caught 12 this weekend and all 12 were females and were reasorbing their eggs as they had shrunk and were turned a brownish yellow color.If you pull cranks in gville its a sure thing if you catch a crappie it will be a white .It is rare for us to see a black crappie ,maybe one a trip ,no more than 2.On the other hand change over to longlining or bridge fishing and its 99% black crappie with a lot more dinks thrown in which is a good sign of things to come.
I’ve noticed some differences between the Black Crappie (7 or 8 dorsal spines) and White Crappie (5 or 6 dorsal spines).
Blake Crappie seemed to prefer clearer water and vegetation. They spawn a little earlier and have a preference for cooler and shallower water. They also seem to be less likely to bunch up on a single piece of cover. Black Crappie are heavier bodied and more opportunist feeders. They also or more likely to be in rivers or flowing water.
White Crappie prefer muddy or more stained water. They are more likely to suspend in the water column rather than relate to structure. White Crappie are all about the shad, find the bait fish schools and you’ll find the White Crappie. When the water is cool, you can limit out on a single tree or laydown in deep water. White Crappie do fine in warm water, much warmer than Black Crappie.
The great thing is when you have both Black and White Crappie, there’s a good chance that one of the two types will have a good spawn al least every two or three years.
Of course while catch one of the two types it’s normal to get a few of the other mixed in. There close enough cousins that good cover or food will bring both to the same area. Again, just my 2 cents. :twocents
Down here where I fish, the Mobile Tensaw Delta, I don't think I have caught a single white. But I've only been fishing for them for about a year.
Callshy I had actually thought about what you mentioned here about the methods and type of areas being fished before I posted that, because I was leaning that way to some degree and I still am to a certain extent. However when I fish down towards the Browns Creek area and Town Creek area I fish the same methods as I fish here locally and I catch way more whites there than I do here fishing the same methods. That is the reason I mentioned it. I do think you are right to a certain degree especially probably trolling cranks. I am not a crank troller so I think that method you may be spot on with. I think method does play a part, but I think the end of the lake plays a part as well. you know these crappie are crazy and picky, if they were not, we would not love chasing them so much.
Quote:
Originally Posted by callshy
I just read what snapperking posted and it related to what I was thinking about trolling cranks. I think that method is a big producer of whites and like callshy said, the end of the lake may not matter for that technique. However for other techniques like he mentioned I catch mainly blacks where I am locally and maybe one or two good whites mixed in here and there with a few small whites, however on the other end I catch more whites with the techniques I use than I do here local.