Thread: Black Crappie??

I've never caught a black crappie. EVER! Where would I have the best chances of catching a black crappie?

I dont know what to tell you bebo, out of every 100 crappie I catch where I fish only 1 of them might be white. Most all the crappie I catch are black crappie.

guntersville is full of them

Coosa River Lakes have lots of them.

I just really started crappie fishing and I believe all I've ever caught are the white ones. Looks at the pics at alabamafishingbuddy.ning.com (Richard Wright) those crappie pictures that I posted are the white species right? I had Laser doc post a pic on here of the one I had mounted last year look at it. I think they are all white.

Both species are founds in most Alabama Lakes, although different, they are similar in many ways. Once you learn the appearance differences, telling the difference becomes easy. Look for vertical stripes on White Crappie and mixed spots on Black Crappie.

bebo, i was one step ahead of you. Before you mentioned it, I had already went and looked at your pics. You are right, the pictures you have are white crappie. I fish Guntersville mostly, and it is loaded with black crappie. It seems when I do catch a white there, that it is usually big.

I almost would call the white crappie a tiger crappie because of the stripes. At least thats what my son calls them.

Generally black crappie go for clear water areas where white crappie prefer muddier water. You can also tell the difference between the number of spines on the dorsal fin. Black crappie have 7 to 8 spines on the dorsal fin and white crappie have 5 to 6 usually. This is the front half of the top fin.

Try googling "black crappie vs. white crappie"

ORNC