Thread: Blacknose Crappie

When I catch them I don't think much about it anymore. So I'd say they are low on the percentage of crappie caught, but not enough to consider them extremely rare. Just my observation.

not rare. Search box in upper right of the page will guide you to previous discussion.

Thanks for the replies guys.

Nah, they're not "rare" in the sense of the word. They're just a Black Crappie with a pigment marker gene that's a little different than a regular Black Crappie's pigment marker gene, which causes the stripe.

It was first thought (by some) that it was a White River exclusive fish, but records show that Blacknose occur naturally in many other states. They've been stocked in many waters around the USA, and even been used to create Triploid Hybrids (sterile fish). They can & do crossbreed naturally with "regular" Black Crappie, in the wild, and may also crossbreed with White Crappie ... and in either case the black stripe is present in most of the offspring.

Many websites/forums are still referring to them as "hybrid crossbreeds" between a White & Black Crappie ... but, they're not.

They taste the same as any other crappie once the cornmeal is added and dropped into hot grease.

Some places have alot of them . Cool looking fish .

I fish Kinkaid lake in Southern Illinois and catch them all the time.

Last week's was the first one I can remember catching. The black stripe down it's back caught my eye then saw the black patch on the upper lip. I wasn't aware of the stripe, just the patch being an identifier. I've always been a bass guy so sorry if I sound like it's amateur hour. The weather is supposed to be warm this weekend, and I'm doing Christmas Friday night, so I'm going to fish all weekend.