With the summer upon us and fishing looking to see much warmer water soon, crappies can get temperamental and often can appear to have simply vanished. Here some observations I have made and journalled over a 20+ year span of Crappie fishing. Most of the waters I have journalled hold both White and Black Crappies, so both are reflected here. In waters where one or the other secies has been NOT found, the information remains static for that specie of Crappie. While I do not journal much anymore, these observations still follow me to the water today.
*While it is not unusual to catch White and Black Crappies from the same water [lake, river] they each have their own niche and characteristics that create some seperation between the two.
*Both have excellent vision, but the Black Crappie has the most sun-sensitive eyes of the two. Black Crappies are more likely to be the night biters. On open water, the White Crappies are most likely to hit higher in the water column since the bright sunlight doesn’t bother much while the Black Crappies seem to loll around in deeper water to avoid the harsh bright sunlight.
*On super bright days and /or on clear water, Black Crappies will take advantage of ANY shade put on the water and will most likely be found in that shaded water while White Crappies are content to stay where the water is strongly sun-lit. Black Crappies appear to favor areas with submerged structure of many types and can be found in the thick of it while the White Crappies seem to stay on the periphery, or outside edges, of the structure. Both fish use weeds.
*As the water warms, Black Crappies tend to seek water temperatures where comfort and dissolved oxygen suit them and will minimize thier activity levels much as the do when the water gets colder. White Crappies on the other hand are really active swimmers/hunters and act a lot like White Bass even when the water feels hot.
*During the heat of summer, White Crappies of all sizes are the meat eaters while Black Crappies, even the very large ones will take advantage of bug hatches in addition to the minnow forage. In the depths of winter, more of the reverse has been noted.
*Of the two Crappie species, the Black Crappie is often quite tolerant of suspended Sunfish, while the White Crappies do not spend much time with suspended Sunfish. This may, in part, be due to the continually roaming nature of summer White Crappie.
*Both species of Crappies have large mouths and can inhale some amazingly large foods. The Black Crappie will attack even very large baits being trolled to Walleye or cast for Bass, while the White Crappies prefer to go after natural foods, but will also hit on artificials. A river angler is more likely to catch a Black Crappie while Walleye trolling than a White Crappie, but again this may be due, in part, to the preference that Black Crappie have to deeper water when the water is very warm, as do the Walleye and Bass.
*White Crappies do not appear to have any problems dealing with current while Black Crappies seem to adapt to current by using submerged and other naturally occuring structure [a point that juts out into the current for instance] as current breaks. This can be seen from the time spawning starts to take shape right up until the time the water cools in the fall, but can be most apparent during the ice season.
*When the fall peiod begins to put some evening chill on the water and daylight begins to wane slightly, the Black Crappie makes the shift to towards winter water first.
*Save for the section on Sunfish tolerance, the larger either of these species gets, the more pointed each instance becomes.
These are just some of the most pointed observations I have logged. Of course this was not a scientific study so no claim is being made that these are absolutes…. we are dealing with fish here and nothing short of a woman can change the way things are faster than a fish. Crappies are the epitome of this.
