How to tell male and female crappie.

[gabowman]

I usually just lift their tails. :D

[Jerry Blake]

The males of both species turn darker during the spawn. I call it "putting on their tuxedos for the dance". In clear water the males can get jet black. The females remain the same as they are the rest of the year.

A lot of folks think the darker fish they catch are black crappie and the lighter colored fish are white crappie but that's not necessarily the case.

Even when the males are dark you can still distinguish between white crappie and black crappie by the vertical bar pattern on the sides of the white crappie and the random speckling of the black crappie.

If in doubt count the spines in the dorsal fin (big one on top). Officially if there are 5 or 6 dorsal spines it is a white crappie and if there are 7 or 8 dorsal spines it is a black crappie. Personally I've never seen a crappie with 5 or 8 dorsal spines.

We do see a crappie on occasion that looks a lot more like black crappie in color pattern and body build but has larger, fuzzy specks and only 6 dorsal spines and I'm pretty sure they are hybrids - cross between white and black crappie.

[backtocrappie]

You have to observe behavior in the water first.

Males typically lift the rear fin to pee.

[Jerry Blake]

Here's a picture of a good mix of crappie that we caught this morning. You can easily distinquish between the males and females of both white and black crappie and the picture board.

From left to right they are: Black Male, White Female, Black Male, Black Male, White Male, White Female, White Female, Black Male, White Female, Black Female (or male that wasn't very dark yet).

[slabbandit]

Male white crappie are only distinguishable from the females during the spawn when they take on the darker spawning colors...

Male White Crappie


Female White Crappie


Any other time of year the only way that I can tell the difference between male and female is during cleaning them. The females will usually have a few eggs in their bellys and the males will have the white milt sacs.
Jerry catches more black crappie species over on Hamilton and Greeson as the are more of a clearer water crappie. Notice that the white crappie's spots are arranged in vertical bars and the black crappie are random.
Here on Nimrod are lake is a lot more dingy and is mainly a white crappie lake.

[mrwillis]

I just watch how they swim...the females usually have a bigger backside, and swing their tales a little more than the males do...

Just kidding, actually, I know just as soon as I catch them. I only fish with money. The females take the bills, and they bite fast and hard. The males seem to only get my change...

[pop]

Actually if you put your crappie in a live well, and check in 5 minutes, then 10 minutes, the females are the ones that still can't keep their mouth shut. :D Pop

[anchorpuller]

Y'all are SO funny. I could say a couple things here, but I'd get moderated

[Majesticman]

At the end of the spawn females have their legs crossed and are backed up against anything solid.

[jlaughlin72]

This page will tell you how to tell if its a black or white, as for determining male or female, you are on your own, other than the males get darker during he spawn.
That draws my question.
What are yall's oppinion as for why the males get so dark? The only thing I could come up with is that maybe they darken to be more camoflauge for when they are in the shallows fanning beds for the spawn..
Someone correct me if this is incorrect.
http://web2.airmail.net/kohutek6/images6/crappie.jpg