crappie sex question

[treepotato]

NO! No! No!....this isn't what you think it is. I figured this title would get some attention! Actually , I was reading an article about spring crappie and the author was talking about how the crappie were up really shallow . He said that they were mostly males guarding the nests. I have heard this before and I am not questioning his knowledge , My question is how can you tell the difference ? Are there different markings or different numbers of dorsal spines or what?.......confused......treepotato

[Moose1am]

About the only way that I know to tell the difference between a male crappie and a female crappie is to filet them and look for the sex organs. Females have eggs and the males have sperm sacks not eggs sacks generally speaking. Which is why I wondered about the other post talking about the male Smallmouth Bass in the Patomac River producing eggs. Evidently the river has some type of chemicals that were making the eggs develope in male SM bass.

I guess that you could study the genetic DNA of the fish to determine if they have two XX chromosome or an XY set of Chromosomes. The XY are the true males an the XX are the true females. Hormones that are present in the eggs when they develop determine just how the egg will grow and whether it grows up to be a male or females.

I guess that harmons introduced into the animals later in life can really screw the animals up.

NO! No! No!....this isn't what you think it is. I figured this title would get some attention! Actually , I was reading an article about spring crappie and the author was talking about how the crappie were up really shallow . He said that they were mostly males guarding the nests. I have heard this before and I am not questioning his knowledge , My question is how can you tell the difference ? Are there different markings or different numbers of dorsal spines or what?.......confused......treepotato

[Tim The Lippa Rippa Mon]

If your timing is during the "true" spawn in Spring, your females will usually have more pronounced, bulging bellies and tend to hang a little deeper than the males. The males, especially the Blacks, will usually take on a much more distinct and darker color as well. One other identifying thing that can help, is to look at their tails and at the bottoms of their fins. Are they damaged, or have any redness to them? This usually characterizes a male that has been building/gaurding a spawning bed. Males generally will spend much more time in the shallows than females will during the spawn period. It is their genetic duty to build the nest, and later to gaurd the fry when they hatch. Without their presence at the nests, Bluegill, leeches, and other predators will make short work of the spawning pair's efforts.

<,"}/>{ Rippa

[Jerry Blake]

Hey Treepotato,

When the crappie start moving in to spawn the males of both white and black crappie get real dark and it's pretty easy to tell the difference.

It will depend somewhat on water clarity and the females will darken some just coming shallower but it's the males that get so dark they are almost black and they will stay that way until the spawn is long over and they start moving back into deeper water.

Check this picture from one of our trips last spring. You can easily distinguish between the males and females of the fish on the board.

From left to right it looks like they are a white female, two black males, a white male, three white females, a white male and two white females.

In case you're wondering the four biggest that day were over 16-inches and the biggest was 17-inches, caught by the kid with the big grin on his face - that's his dad and grandpa that he beat for first, biggest and most!

[Tim The Lippa Rippa Mon]

I'd take those front 10 in any tournament!! What lake did those come out of anyway?

Do you ever fish at Millwood down there Jerry?

<,"}/>{ Rippa

[fatboy]

Those came out of Lake Hamilton. The Clarion Resort right behind it is where i stayed the last two times there. Their parking lot has a boat ramp and slips right beside the hotel . What more can a man ask for?

[Jerry Blake]

Hey Tim,

I've not fished Millwood but I hear really good reports from there every now and then.

Fatboy is right - those fish and thousands more came out of Hamilton this year. The brush I put down last winter has really paid off. Plus, hardly anyone fishes for crappie in this 7,200 acre lake.

Green Carp get a lot of pressure as do whites, hybrids and stripers when they are breaking but people don't come here to crappie fish so the only pressure is from a few locals and most of them only crappie fish in the Spring and maybe some in the Fall.

It's PARADISE!

[Tim The Lippa Rippa Mon]

Everyone fishes for Crappie here, the Ammish, the homeless, hell even PETA members... well maybe not that bad, but our fish get a bunch of pressure! :p

You guys both sure live a stone's throw away from Heaven. I am probably coming to your neck of the woods the end of this month Fatboy. It is just gonna be a zip in & out trip though. Otherwise I'd try to hooking up with you. I understand you have a thing for Rosey Red, whoever she is! :D

I'd like to meet a lot of the people on this board someday. The people here make this site my favorite.

I will be at Millwood in March Jerry. Maybe I will stop by & look you up when I am down there. I hoping to find my Silver scaled cloud while I am down there in Heaven! :D

<,"}/>{ Rippa

[Jerry Blake]

Hey Tim,

Please do give me a shout when you're in the the area and maybe we can get together to yank up a few crappie or put down a couple cold ones.

They should just be coming in to spawn by the end of March. The mommas will probably still be staging out from the spawning areas but the males should be fanning beds.

[treepotato]

Hey guys thanks for the all the tips on telling the difference between male & female. I have noticed the darker colorations of the males in the spring, I can see where that would give you a good indication on timing on when the big females would be comming up shallow. Jerry , thanks for the pictures. You can actually see the difference without much trouble just from the photos. I can't imagine catching the quality of the fish you are hauling in down there! I live in central Indiana and mainly fish reservoir waters and an occaisional natural lake and a 1lb or 1 1/2 lb fish is exceptional . Most fish this size are caught during spawn. I am truly jealous of you being a guide. I think that would have to be the ultimate! All my friends tell me I need to do that but I wouldn't know where to begin. This area has no type of tourist attraction and I think buisness would be very limited. Do you guide fulltime ? I checked out your web site and it is incredible . You have done a great job with it . Thanks again to all of you who responded..........treepotato