Male?/Female?

[Barnacle Bill]

How do you tell the difference other than one having a belly full of roe?

[Bruce Carp]

check for udders?
check for makeup?
so much for the humor, excellent question, eggs is how I tell.

[squirrel hunter]

You can never be too careful these days!

[Gar-Getter]

seems that, at least during the spawn, males are a great deal darker than the females. It also seems that the males I caught were significantly smaller.

[Tommy]

The gill plates will normally be darker on the males. If the males have been in shallow spawning you won't have much trouble telling one from the other for sure.

[GABoy]

How do you tell the difference other than one having a belly full of roe?

During the spawning period is about the only time I can get a good indication of what is what.....males are almost black and females stay white and sometimes have roe....

[Minus 1]

Shake them...........if they rattle, they're males...... :rolleyes:
Ledhed

[Crapbie]

Surely there must be a way to tell by the anatomy, they must be slightly different inside. Its very surprising to me that you all don't know a good way to tell, either it makes no difference to anyone because they are both good eating or there is no easy way but I have to go with number one because if there are 2 sex's then there must be a way to distinguish them inside. Anyone know a fish biologist who likes crappie or want to perform a fish autopsy? lol

[CrappiePappy]

I think most people think of this question in terms of telling a male from a female WITHOUT cutting them open ... maybe that's why you got the answers you did. We did have a thread about being able to do just that, sometime back. I don't remember anyone coming up with any way of doing so.
During the spawning period - males will turn "darker", and their black coloration will "expand" ... sometimes to the extent of almost turning the whole fish black. Females will retain the normal coloration, but have the "full belly" look of pregnancy. That's about the only time you can tell a male from a female - without "surgery/autopsy".
Now - if we're talking "after" cutting them open ... and not during the spawning period -- then a male is easily recognized by the two, long white organs (commonly referred to, in human males, as the "family jewels"). Females will not have these organs, but may have a small remnant of an egg sac (Spring-Summer) or the beginnings of a newly forming egg sac (Fall-Winter).
As far as I know ... without cutting one open, and not considering the changes in coloration (male) & swollen belly (female) of the spawn ... there is no particular way of telling them apart. .........cp

[chaunc]

May i ask what is the importence of knowing the difference between the genders? I'm just curious why it makes a difference to you.