Thread: black nosed crappie

Originally Posted by springhillwantabe

been seeing some posts on this have not caught any in kansas catch them at the loz every now and then heard years ago they are a cross of blacks and whites but just a fluke but if you get a black nose to a black nose you could have them with some regularaty any thoughts on this? thanks jim

Jim,

'Blacknose' crappie are not a hybrid cross between white and black crappie. They are a black crappie with a gene for the black stripe down their nose and back for which they are named.

Other state Fish & Game agencies have used the blacknose crappie in stocking studies as the fish are easily identified by the natural marker and recruitment/contribution of stocked fish to the population is more easily tracked.

I've seen the reports on the KS CDC board of recent catches of blacknose crappie from a couple of our Kansas reservoirs. KDWPT has not stocked blacknose crappie so the sources of these fish may be coming from the private side (like fishlessDan mentioned his pond seeding the Wakie).

Craig .... isn't there also the possibility of a naturally occurring Blacknose population ?? We've discussed this fish off & on for years, here on the site ... and searches for info have brought up the fact that there are several states that have these naturally occuring populations.
My first introduction to this fish was several decades ago, at Watts Bar Lake in E Tenn. It was described as a Arkansas Blacknose Crappie, by my friend/fishing partner .... but, I don't know where he got that info. Research brought me to the discovery that there's a naturally occurring population in a small section of the White River, in Ark. But, later research brought out the fact that other states also had these populations (13 states in all).

According to this website - Fish of Eastern Kansas - Linn Valley Lakes - Blacknose are being raised for stocking public waters in Kansas .

... cp

Originally Posted by crappiepappy

Craig .... isn't there also the possibility of a naturally occurring Blacknose population ??... According to this website - Fish of Eastern Kansas - Linn Valley Lakes - Blacknose are being raised for stocking public waters in Kansas . ... cp

crappiepappy, Yes, once the 'blacknose' crappie is available in a population with its' gene for 'the mark', others with the blacknose character could be produced if the genetic roll of the dice lands on 'blacknose'. Hmmm...I haven't seen that link for Linn Valley Lakes before today. I can tell you that no blacknose crappie are being raised in KDWPT hatcheries. However, private sector fish farms do grow, market, and sell blacknose crappie in Kansas. With that being said, it is illegal for members of the public to stock public fishing waters in Kansas.

Yeah, Craig ... it's a REAL GOOD idea to not let the "public" decide what fish to put into "public" waters !!

One other little tidbit of info on the Blacknose, that I'd like to share ... the black stripe generally runs from under the bottom lip, to between the nostrils/eyes and back to the beginning of the dorsal fin. There are some "articles" that make the statement that the stripe runs down the back, all the way to the tail Doh ... but, I've never seen one with a stripe past the dorsal, nor have I seen a picture of one with such. Have you

There was, also, a discussion on another state board, awhile back .... where the "recessive" nature of the pigment gene came into play. I was always under the impression that, if two Blacknose had offspring, the result would be 100% Blacknose ... but, if a Blacknose & (reg) Black Crappie had offspring, then the result would be 0% Blacknose offspring. There was one member that refuted that assumption. What say you ??

... cp

thanks again

Craig, funny thing is we didn't stock the pond with backnose crappie, just blacks and whites. Could they have cross bred or something to get the blacknosed ones in there? It's been awile since we fished the pond alot, but it used to seem that roughly 1 out of 10 would have a blacknose.

It appears that my sources on 'blacknose info' may have been a bit outdated and my posts were not as accurate as I would have liked. I'm still digging in to this topic and hopefully I can find some current info for you guys!

Originally Posted by fishlessDan

Craig, funny thing is we didn't stock the pond with backnose crappie, just blacks and whites. Could they have cross bred or something to get the blacknosed ones in there? It's been awile since we fished the pond alot, but it used to seem that roughly 1 out of 10 would have a blacknose.

Dan ... I don't think you can get Blacknose just from cross breeding of Blacks & Whites, naturally or otherwise. But ... I know what you mean about being surprised at finding Blacknose in a population that was stocked with Black & White Crappie. We have a small lake, here in KY, that was stocked with Black Crappie only (supposedly Doh ). They were not fish from a hatchery, but taken from a couple of other local lakes ... none of which are known to have Blacknose. Well, in the course of fishing this lake, I have personally caught several Blacknose Crappie from it. The only explanation I can come up with, is that the nettings from those other lakes must have picked up some Blacknose Crappie, without the KDFWR knowing about it. And, even if they did happen to notice that there were some Blacknose in the mix ... since they're still actually just a Black Crappie, there wouldn't be any reason to be concerned. Personally ... I wish they'd have stocked it EXCLUSIVELY with Blacknose !!

... cp