Crappie Explained

Crappies [1] [2] are two species of North American freshwater fish of the genus Pomoxis in the family Centrarchidae (sunfishes). Both species of crappies are popular game fish among recreational anglers.

Etymology

The genus name Pomoxis literally means "sharp cover", referring to the fish's spiny gill covers (opercular bones).[3] It is composed of the Greek (cover) and ("sharp").[4]

The common name (also spelled croppie[5] or crappé[6]) derives from the Canadian French French: crapet, which refers to many different fishes of the sunfish family. Other names for crappie are papermouths, strawberry bass, speckled bass or specks (especially in Michigan), speckled perch, white perch,[7] crappie bass, calico bass (throughout the Middle Atlantic states and New England),[8] and Oswego bass.[9]

In Louisiana, it is called sacalait (sac-à-lait,),[10] seemingly an allusion to its milky white flesh or silvery skin.[11] [12] The supposed French meaning is, however, folk etymology, because the word is ultimately from Choctaw, meaning "trout".[13]

Species

The currently recognized species in this genus are:

Image Scientific name Common Name Distribution
P. annularis Rafinesque, 1818 Great Lakes, Hudson Bay, and the Mississippi River basins expanding from New York and southern Ontario westward to South Dakota and southward to Texas.
P. nigromaculatus (Lesueur, 1829)eastern United States and Canada

Biology

Both species of crappie as adults feed predominantly on smaller fish species, including the young of their own predators (which include the northern pike, muskellunge, and walleye). They have diverse diets, however, including zooplankton, insects, and crustaceans. Larval crappies rely on crustacean zooplankton as a food source. The availability of zooplankton can have an effect on larval populations.[14] By day, crappie tend to be less active and concentrate around weed beds or submerged objects, such as logs and boulders. They feed during dawn and dusk, by moving into open water or approaching the shore.[15] [16]

Hybrid crappie (Pomoxis annularis × nigromaculatus) have been cultured and occur naturally.[17] The crossing of a black crappie female and white crappie male has better survival and growth rates among offspring than the reciprocal cross does.[17] Hybrid crappie are difficult to distinguish from black crappie by appearance alone. Fingerling yields are variable in culture.[17] The hybrid offspring are fertile, black crappie female and white crappie male crosses more so than the reciprocal.[17]

Fishing

The Pomoxis species are highly regarded panfish and are often considered to be among the best-tasting freshwater food fish. Because of their diverse diets, crappie may be caught in many ways, including casting light jigs, trolling with minnows or soft lures, using small spinnerbaits, or using bobbers with common hookbaits. Crappies are also popular with ice anglers, as they are active in winter.[18]

Angling

Angling for crappie is popular throughout much of North America. Methods vary, but among the most popular is called "spider rigging", a method characterized by a fisherman in a boat with many long fishing rods pointing away from the angler at various angles like spokes from a wheel[19] (spider rigging is not permitted on some waters. In Minnesota, for example, a fisherman may use only one rod during the open water season). Anglers who employ the spider rigging method may choose from among many popular baits, some of the most popular are plastic jigs with lead jigheads, crankbaits or live minnows.[20] Many anglers also chum or dump live groundbait into the water to attract the fish to bite their bait. Crappies are also regularly targeted and caught during the spawning period by fly fishermen, and can be taken from frozen ponds and lakes in winter by ice fishing.

Conservation

In 2023, apparel company Crappie Forever announced a promotion in which it would award prizes to those catching and releasing tagged crappie in certain Mississippi lakes, in order to further crappie conservation and enthusiasm for tournament fishing.[21]

Commercial fishing

Before state fisheries departments began to implement more restrictive, conservation-minded regulations, a great number of crappies, especially in the Mississippi River states, were harvested commercially in the 19th and early 20th centuries. At one point, the annual crappie catch sold at fish markets in the United States was reported to be about 3e6lb.[22]

A commercial fishery for crappies existed at Reelfoot Lake in Tennessee until 2003. It was one of the few commercial fisheries for crappies in recent decades.[23] [24]

Fishing records

According to the International Game Fish Association, the current all-tackle world records are:[25] [26]

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. Encyclopedia: Crappie. American Heritage Dictionary. 4th. 2006-06-29. https://web.archive.org/web/20050926132909/http://bartleby.com/61/68/C0726800.html. 26 September 2005. dead.
  2. Encyclopedia: Crappie. Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2006-06-29.
  3. Book: Ross. Stephen T.. Brenneman. William Max. The Inland Fishes of Mississippi. 2001. Univ. Press of Mississippi. 978-1-57806-246-1. 436. Pomoxis: sharp opercle, in reference to the opercle bone ending in two spines.
  4. Book: Wallus. Robert. Simon. Thomas P. . Reproductive Biology and Early Life History of Fishes in the Ohio River Drainage . 6. 2008. CRC. 978-1-4200-0361-1. 355. Pomoxis, Greek: poma, "lid, cover" and oxys, "sharp", alluding to the opercles ending in two flat points instead of an ear flap.

  5. "variant of crappie"

  6. Book: Murray, James Augustus Henry . etal . A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles. 1893. Clarendon Press. 1141. Crappie. U.S. Also crappé, croppie. A species of sunfish, Pomoxys annularis.
  7. Web site: Louisiana Fisheries – Fact Sheets . seagrantfish.lsu.edu . 2019-03-06.
  8. Web site: Massachusetts Wildlife . 16 February 2010 . dead . 8 October 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20121008215020/http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dfw/publications/mwmag/pdf/fishing_issue.pdf.
  9. Schultz, Ken. Ken Schultz's Field Guide to Freshwater Fish. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, 2010.
  10. Smith . Hugh M. . Common Names of the Basses and Sun-fishes . Report of the Commissioner . 1904. Gov't Printing Office. 357 . The euphonious French name French: sac-à-lait (bag of milk), which is heard in the lower Mississippi Valley and now apparently is applied to other centrarchids, as well as to P. annularis, to which it was originally given, has been corrupted to "suckley perch" in Louisiana near New Orleans..
  11. Book: Bulletin. 1917. Louisiana Dept. of Conservation. 9. When properly cooked the white, flaky, juicy flesh (French: sac-à-lait means a "bag of milk" therefore our French-speaking population has most appropriately named this fish) has an exceptionally fine and delicate flavor..
  12. Book: Louisiana Conservation Review. 9-10. 1940. 31. believed to have received its name French: sac à lait,, "milk bag" because of the silvery olive appearance of the fish, or because of its extraordinarily white flesh. Read's further investigations, however, revealed that the Choctaw Indian Choctaw: sakli, "trout".
  13. "Louisiana French French: sac-à-lait, by folk etymology (influence of French French: sac bag, French French: à to, for, and French French: lait milk) from Choctaw Choctaw: sakli trout "
  14. Michaletz . P.H . Obrecht . D.V . Jones . J.R . Influence of Environmental Variables and Species Interactions on Sport Fish Communities in Small Missouri Impoundments . North American Journal of Fisheries Management . 2012 . 10.1080/02755947.2012.728173 . 32 . 6 . 1146–1159 . free . 2012NAJFM..32.1146M .
  15. Web site: NatureServe Explorer. Comprehensive Report Species – Pomoxis annularis. 2006-06-29 . 16 December 2006. https://web.archive.org/web/20061216122955/http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/servlet/NatureServe?searchName=POMOXIS+ANNULARIS . dead.
  16. Web site: NatureServe Explorer . Comprehensive Report Species – Pomoxis nigromaculatus . 2006-06-29 . 14 September 2005 . https://web.archive.org/web/20050914191859/http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/servlet/NatureServe?searchName=Pomoxis+nigromaculatus . dead.
  17. Web site: Species Profile: Hybrid Crappie. Kelly. Anita M.. Baumhoer. Brandon. Southern Regional Aquaculture Center. June 2014. 2 September 2023. SRAC Publication No. 7212.
  18. Web site: Black Crappie. Florida Museum of Natural History Ichthyology Department. 2006-06-29. https://web.archive.org/web/20060727080654/http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/Gallery/Descript/BlackCrappie/BlackCrappie.html. 27 July 2006. dead.
  19. Web site: Super Crappie Systems . In-Fisherman. 23 February 2007 . https://web.archive.org/web/20061222232002/http://www.in-fisherman.com/magazine/articles/if0403_Crappie/ . 22 December 2006.
  20. Web site: Crappie Fishing . Educational Fishing Information for Crappie . 2013-07-24 .
  21. Web site: Fishing: Catch a tagged crappie in Mississippi and it could be worth cash or prizes. 4 June 2023. Clarion Ledger.
  22. "Fisheries." The New International Encyclopedia. 2nd ed. New York: Dodd, Mead and Co., 1930.
  23. Web site: Commercial Crappie Fishing Stopped. Reelfoot Outdoors. https://web.archive.org/web/20220528214453/https://www.reelfoot.com/commercial_crappie_fishing.htm. 28 May 2022. live.
  24. Web site: Change in Reelfoot crappie population has brought ban on commercial fishing. Kentucky New Era. 23 June 2001. https://web.archive.org/web/20220528214740/https://www.kentuckynewera.com/article_a5427c97-095d-5a32-b4af-5e1d75bcb38d.html. 28 May 2022. live.
  25. Web site: Crappie, black. International Game Fish Association. 31 August 2023.
  26. Web site: Crappie, white. International Game Fish Association. 31 August 2023.
  27. Web site: Looking at the World Record Crappie (White And Black) . 28 March 2020 . Premier Angler . 28 March 2020.

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