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Common name: White crappie (other common names include: white perch, papermouth, specks, silver crappie, bachelor, newlight, tin mouth, slab, bachelor perch, strawberry bass and goggle eye)
Scientific name: Pomoxis annularis
California record: 4 lbs. 8 oz. from Clear Lake on April 26, 1971 by angler Carol Carlton of Lakeport.
Description: Crappies are part of the sunfish family. In addition to the white crappie there is also a black crappie.
White crappie get their scientific name from the spines on the fish’s gills. The word Proxomis in Greek means “opercle sharp.” In Latin, Annularis means “having rings,” expressing the white crappie’s characteristic vertical dark bands around it’s body.
Crappie tend to be small in size averaging in length from six to eight inches. The average weight of an adult white crappie is also relatively small at around 1 lb. or less.
Crappie feature a compressed slab-sided body, with a mouth proportional to its body size. The fish’s spiny and soft dorsal fins are completely joined and have five to six spines and 14 to 15 rays. The anal fin, which is a little larger than the dorsal fin features five to seven spines and 16 to 18 rays.
The fish is a silver color that turns a shade of green or brown on the back of the fish. The fish features 7 to 9 dark bars on its body’s sides. The body is a light gray to green color on its upper sides. The lower sides are a silver color with a white belly. The fish also feature gray mottling between its lateral bars. The fish’s caudal, dorsal and anal fins all feature alternating light and dark bands as well.
Habitat: White Crappie live naturally in the areas from the Mississippi Valley east to the Appalachian foothills and through the Gulf Coast from Florida to Texas. White crappie were introduced to waters nationwide during 1800 to 1920 in areas where they were not naturally found.
White crappie live in large ponds, reservoirs, rivers, oxbows, man-made lakes, river impoundments and large rivers. They prefer water temperature around 60 to 68 degrees F. They also like to find areas where there is some sort of protective cover like fallen trees, vegetation or boat docks.
When white crappie reside in rivers or streams, they tend to find the deeper pools in order to avoid being caught in strong currents. They can also thrive in large bodies of water, sometimes found schooling in water 60 ft. deep.
White crappie do not need clear, clean water like black crappies. They can tolerate a large variety of water conditions including silt and turbidity. They can survive in muddy ponds, sloughs, ditches and lakes. Although they are tolerant of many conditions of water, they are intolerant of acidic water.
Reproduction: White crappie spawn during spring when the water temperatures are around 65 to 70 degrees F; although white crappie have been found to spawn in water temperature as low as 56 degrees F.
Characteristic of the sunfish family, white crappie are nest builders. The male crappie will fan out a nest at the bottom of the water usually in a cove or a small embayment where there is protection from current or wave action. Some nests can be located at depths ranging from 1 to 20 ft., but are usually around the depth of 3 to 10 ft.
The female white crappie is capable of releasing anywhere from 20,000 to 140,000 eggs during spawning. When the female enters the nest, it deposits its eggs while the male simultaneously fertilizes them with his milt. The fertilization is achieved through the touching of bellies. Each nest can hold up to 20,000 eggs at one time.
After the eggs have been fertilized, the male crappie guards the nest from predators. It takes around 3 to 5 days for the fry to hatch. The sac-fry stay attached to the substrate due to an adhesive substance. The fry remove themselves several days later by swimming roughly. The fry will leave the nest only at night at first, and do not swim in schools.
White crappie reach sexual maturity at 2 to 3 years of age. They have a high reproductive potential, which usually leads to overpopulation and a stunt in small lakes or impoundments.
Eating habit: Young white crappie feed primarily on copepods, cladocerans, insects and other zooplankton until 4 to 5 inches in length.
Adult crappie eat a wide variety of foods. They sometimes will feed on smaller fish, like the young of their own predators (including northern pike, muskellunge and walleye). They will also eat zooplankton, crustaceans and insects, as well as mollusks and crayfish.
When white crappie feed during the day, they are less active, feeding around weed beds or submerged objects that have fallen into the water like logs. They are most active feeders at dawn or dusk, when they will move into more open waters or closer to the shore.
Fishing methods, tips, and best lures and baits: White crappie will bite well on live minnows, spinners and small jigs. Ultra-light to light spinning tackle is the best as most fish are under a pound.
Crappie are found next to structure, particularly docks and brush piles. When fish school up and want to bite, it can be fast action and a lot of fish can be caught in short order.
Night fishing can be very effective as well. Using a floating light to draw in baitfish and create a food chain can bring excellent results, especially in the warmer summer months.
Best times of the year for targeting this species: The best time of year to target white crappie is during their spawning season in the spring, when the fish will move to shallow areas of water near the shoreline. Anglers should focus on areas with stumps, brush or other kinds of debris, and docks.
If fishing in summer, white crappie tend to move to deeper water along roadbeds, submerged points or creek channels. White crappie also might move inshore during the fall as well.
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