Third one I've ever caught on hook and line. Biggest by far. Still pretty skinny for the length. Female, had some eggs. Caught on a suspending mini-crankbait very close to my dock. Much slower retrieve than I usually do for bass. Maybe one of the breeders?
I don't know if we've ever had Relative Weight charts for black or white crappie.
This crappie is not exactly thriving, which may strongly indicate a lack of forage fish to support a predator of the approx. 10" size with a large mouth gape.
Of course there may be a seasonal component to it's weight, but I think the greater cause is lack of forage.
Excerpt from Robert Crais' "The Monkey's Raincoat:" "She took another microscopic bite of her sandwich, then pushed it away. Maybe she absorbed nutrients from her surroundings."
Here is a link to an online relative weight (RW) calculator from Alabma and Auborn Extension for a few common pond fish species including crappie. Know the length of the fish and its weight and it will calculate the Relative Weight. Note that RW does change during the year for fish species depending on food sources, spawning condition, and water temperature. Note there are some measurable differences in standard weights between black and white crappie. https://www.aces.edu/blog/topics/fisheries/fish-relative-weight-calculator/
Found where they were spawning (or at least one of the places). Got 19 males but no idea if they were pre- or post- spawn.
I can see why some folks would want them---finding them and catching as many as you can is a lot of fun, especially when they're crazy aggressive as they are right now.
Found where they were spawning (or at least one of the places). Got 19 males but no idea if they were pre- or post- spawn.
I can see why some folks would want them---finding them and catching as many as you can is a lot of fun, especially when they're crazy aggressive as they are right now.
If you think catching a bunch of them is fun, just wait till you start eating a bunch of them, they are some excellent eating.
What is your water temperature? Black Crappie usually start congregating in the upper 50 degree water temps and actual spawning takes place at around 60 degrees.
you can pretty much count on finding some males near the spawning brush around 56 to 58 degrees.
Not as familiar with White crappie, which appears to be what you have there in the pics, hard to tell tho, but I think they prefer a dew degrees warmer then Black to spawn.
All the really good ideas I've ever had came to me while I was milking a cow.
