Crappie/Pickeral Hybrids Thriving In Virginia (Crapperals)

[horseshoer]

They bite aggresively and disperse thoughout the water more than a plain ol crappie. I caught these ripping a spinnerbait thru the shallows in the backs of coves and also did well walkin the dog with a Spook. Our governing state fisheries agency, Virginia Dept of Game & Inland Fisheries, certainly knew what they were doing when this project was undertaken. My hats off to the wildlife biologists & geneticists who all worked on this. They have neither the teeth or the ton of wishbones found in the pickeral, yet as in both fish, the meat is firm, white, & flaky when cooked. An added plus is fillets up to 2 ft long.

[Timmy Tom]

Huh, Looks like a interesting fish/alien? No just kidding it is interesting. How big do they get and do they fight. I assume they reproduce or can it not? That's a wonderful catch. I would have freaked if I caught one of them today, Ha.

TT

[Ken Kinser]

Good job catching , interesting fish,tell us more about them

[Cincinnati]

Man them are cool looking!

[slabsrus]

those are cool,, are they for real?

[fishman247]

interesting, tell me more,or is that a photo shop stretched crappie?never seen anything like them

[FalconSmitty]

From T VDGIF ite
Fish stocking is a management tool to establish sportfish in new, reclaimed, or renovated waters open to public fishing; supplement natural stocks where reproduction is inadequate; introduce new species as predators and/or to provide a trophy fishery; and provide immediate fishing by introducing catchable size fish. VDGIF operates four warmwater hatcheries (King & Queen, Front Royal, Buller, and Vic Thomas), rearing and stocking a wide variety of species including largemouth bass, bluegill, redear sunfish, walleye, musky, northern pike, American shad, channel catfish, hybrid striped bass, striped bass and crapperals. Over the last eight years, VDGIF stocked over 14,864,000 freshwater fish in Virginia waters. Anglers should realize that some of the major sport fisheries in Virginia today would not exist without annual stockings from hatcheries and most others are/were started by hatchery fish and then sustained by natural reproduction. they have to stockem because they are sterile.

[horseshoer]

They are sterile being hybrids, stocked as fingerlings.

[FalconSmitty]

How big do they get and do they fight.

TT

About 10.1 pounds is the State record.. Do they fight! Kinda like a blue marlin. lots of jumps. It will also walk on it's tail backwards like a Bottlenose Dolphin great fish... Wish they would put em here... I want some of those 2' fillets

[frydaddy]

Not all hybrids are sterile according to fish and game in a certain ohio lake.
Fish and Game claim that saugeye reproduce in Caesars Creek lake.I was under the impression also that hybrids don't reproduce but the powers that be set me straight.