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Hey guys, quick question. Are blacknose crappie really a rare thing here in Arkansas? I caught one last weekend and let it go before I thought to grab a picture. I was fishing the Arkansas River. Just curious how rare they are or if people catch them regularly. Thanks.
When I catch them I don't think much about it anymore. So I'd say they are low on the percentage of crappie caught, but not enough to consider them extremely rare. Just my observation.
not rare. Search box in upper right of the page will guide you to previous discussion.
Thanks for the replies guys.
Nah, they're not "rare" in the sense of the word. They're just a Black Crappie with a pigment marker gene that's a little different than a regular Black Crappie's pigment marker gene, which causes the stripe.
It was first thought (by some) that it was a White River exclusive fish, but records show that Blacknose occur naturally in many other states. They've been stocked in many waters around the USA, and even been used to create Triploid Hybrids (sterile fish). They can & do crossbreed naturally with "regular" Black Crappie, in the wild, and may also crossbreed with White Crappie ... and in either case the black stripe is present in most of the offspring.
Many websites/forums are still referring to them as "hybrid crossbreeds" between a White & Black Crappie ... but, they're not.
They taste the same as any other crappie once the cornmeal is added and dropped into hot grease.
Some places have alot of them . Cool looking fish .
I fish Kinkaid lake in Southern Illinois and catch them all the time.
Last week's was the first one I can remember catching. The black stripe down it's back caught my eye then saw the black patch on the upper lip. I wasn't aware of the stripe, just the patch being an identifier. I've always been a bass guy so sorry if I sound like it's amateur hour. The weather is supposed to be warm this weekend, and I'm doing Christmas Friday night, so I'm going to fish all weekend.
I have caught them in most of the places I fish for crappie. I seem to catch more in Ouchita and Hamilton percentage wise.
Hope you catch a mess of fish.
Chris
We catch some in Sippi. Fairly common.
I catch them on just about every outing on Lake Hamilton and Degray Lake. They are a pretty looking fish.
Mississippi's large reservoirs provide great crappie fishing opportunities. Unfortunately, it's a different story in ponds and small impoundments where crappie populations either become overabundant and chronically produce small, slow-growing fish or cycle between a few years of good crappie fishing followed by several years of abundant but small fish. For this reason, managers recommend that crappie should not be stocked into waters smaller than several hundred acres.
A non-reproducing crappie would prevent the all-too-common problem of overpopulation and, therefore, be a useful tool for small impoundment management.
The Magnolia crappie is that tool.
The Magnolia crappie is a hybrid between female white crappie and male blackstripe crappie. The blackstripe crappie is a true-breeding strain of black crappie that can be recognized by a prominent dark stripe on the back and top of its head from the dorsal fin to the snout. The blackstripe crappie occurs naturally in low numbers in several Mississippi reservoirs.
What is significant about the Magnolia crappie is that it is genetically sterile and, therefore, cannot reproduce. Sterility results from the fact that this fish has three sets of chromosomes, a condition call triploidy. Natural, reproducing crappie have two sets of chromosomes, a condition called diploidy.
The non-reproducing triploid crappie is the result of research initially conducted at the University of Mississippi and now continued by Justin Wilkens and his staff at the MDWFP North Mississippi Fish Hatchery near Enid Lake.
The triploid condition is created by subjecting the fertilized eggs from the white crappie-blackstripe crappie cross to high pressure for 2 minutes beginning at exactly five minutes after fertilization. The high pressure - 7,000 to 7,500 psi - disrupts the normal division of the chromosomes such that the developing egg retains an extra set of chromosomes.
The triploid hybrid crappie develops, grows and functions like a normal, diploid crappie. The fish might develop eggs and sperm, but the extra set of chromosomes interferes with the normal cellular process that produces eggs and sperm, so the sex products are not viable.
The North Mississippi Fish Hatchery is expecting to stock about 50,000 Magnolia crappie into lakes throughout Mississippi this fall. The fish will be about 4 inches long at stocking.
The following lakes are scheduled for stocking: Lake Charlie Capps, Lake Claude Bennett, Deer Creek, Holmes County State Park Lake, Lake Jeff Davis, Leroy Percy State Park Lake, Lake Mike Connor, Olive Branch Lake, Prentiss Walker Lake, RecCon Lake, Roosevelt State Park Lake and Simpson County Lake.
The goal of the Magnolia crappie project is 100 percent triploid offspring. Wilkens and his hatchery crew have been continually trying different procedures to reach that goal.
"So far, it has been a trade-off between high survival and high percentage of triploids," Wilkens confided. "Two years ago we used 7,000 to 7,500 psi pressure and got 95 percent triploid fish, but survival was low.
"Last year, we lowered the pressure treatment to 6,000 psi. Survival was much better, but only 48 percent of the fish were triploids."
Wilkens went back to 7,000 psi pressure treatment this year and expects a high percentage of triploids. By the time you read this, Wilkens will know how successful he was.
The 5 percent of fertile fish remains a problem, and the Magnolia crappie is not yet perfected for use in small ponds. Wilkens and MDWFP management biologists are not concerned about 5 percent of fertile fish right now because the fish are stocked into lakes with existing diploid crappie populations and strong bass populations that are expected to crop the little reproduction that may occur.
Funded by angler-generated Sportfish Restoration Funds, the North Mississippi Fish Hatchery is continuing to improve the production of Magnolia Crappie.
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From what I have been told AGFC here does not cross them , pure Blacknose . There may be some private fish farms breeding Magnolias (hybrids ) in Arkansas .
I believe the same thing is true CA , just remembered reading this article few years back and thought I share it , thought it might help shed some light about the magnolia crappie and the blacknose, some have thought they were the same but actually one is a true strain and the other is a genetically /chromosome altered hybrid
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