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jimbojonez
Joined: 04 Feb 2012
Posts: 295
Location: Berlin/Kensington
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 Posted: Sun Mar 10, 2013 12:54 am Post subject: White Crappie |
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Rather than do a bunch of tedious browsing of archives, I thought I'd just throw it out there: what has been everyone else's experiences with white crappie in CT? I haven't actually taken notice the past ten years or so which species I reel in every time I reel in a crappie. The larger ones are much easier to tell the difference, and I haven't caught a large white crappie in over a dozen years. i may or may not have caught small ones since then I truly can't say. The last time I remember catching catching them was in a condominium pond feeding Branch Brook in Thomaston, CT. There were GIANT black and white crappie in there. Anyways ...
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Michael
Joined: 28 Jan 2012
Posts: 3823
Location: Bridgeport
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| Posted: Sun Mar 10, 2013 8:22 pm Post subject: |
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| We don't have white crappie in the Northeast. White crappie are found more towards the Virginias, Carolinas, Gerogia, and Tennessee Valley. |
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PECo
Joined: 06 Oct 2009
Posts: 5203
Location: Avon, CT
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| Posted: Sun Mar 10, 2013 9:43 pm Post subject: |
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White crappie are widely distributed in Pennsylvania, so I'm sure that they could be in Connecticut, too, although I've never seen one. But, then again, I've never counted the number of dorsal spines on the crappie that I've caught; black crappie have seven or eight, while white crappie have only five or six. I've always assumed that the ones I've caught were black crappie.
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JesseC
Joined: 26 Jan 2013
Posts: 128
Location: Cromwell
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| Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2013 12:20 am Post subject: |
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since we're on the subject, would this be a white crappie? or a black one? got it at a pond in town last summer |
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PECo
Joined: 06 Oct 2009
Posts: 5203
Location: Avon, CT
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| Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2013 7:20 am Post subject: |
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| JesseC wrote: | | since we're on the subject, would this be a white crappie? or a black one? got it at a pond in town last summer |
From the pattern on the scales, that's a black crappie. The dark scales on white crappie tend to form a pattern of vertical stripes along their sides. However, the only way to be completely sure is to count the number of dorsal spines.
No offense, but that's a pale looking black crappie. I love the bright green ones, although the ones that are actually black are pretty cool, too. Here's a photo that TurtleKiss (aka Kira) took of one that I caught in the Connecticut River, last year. She tends to oversaturate the colors in her photos, but it really did look like this in the sunlight:
Notice that it has eight dorsal spines (i.e., the shorter ones at the front). A white crappie would have five or six.
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jimbojonez
Joined: 04 Feb 2012
Posts: 295
Location: Berlin/Kensington
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| Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2013 4:40 pm Post subject: |
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There are black, white and hybrid crappie here in CT, as well as in MA, VT, NH. (no data on ME) the white have been established here since at least 1986 according to USGS collection data. I have also caught them as explained in my post. I was catching them alongside black crappie where it was clear as day that they were two different species. This is a link to USGS collection data compiled from collections done in 1986 and 1996. http://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/collectioninfo.aspx?SpeciesID=408 (Not the row on the right that reads "established") It would seem strange that the entire species would disappear in the past 19 years, as climate change has actually shifted more towards a southern climate, and changing ph levels have not had as drastic an effect in CT as they have had in other parts of the NE. [url][/url]
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jimbojonez
Joined: 04 Feb 2012
Posts: 295
Location: Berlin/Kensington
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| Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2013 4:53 pm Post subject: |
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I noticed, while researching all this that the DEP records only list the one species "Calico Bass." Im curious as to whether they would consider recognizing both species, as well as the hybrid in a separate new state record. Also, I would love to see some pictures of the white variety caught in CT posted on here now that, well, at least, I, am on a cryptozoology expedition.
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PECo
Joined: 06 Oct 2009
Posts: 5203
Location: Avon, CT
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| Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2013 4:54 pm Post subject: |
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I'm pretty sure that I've never caught one. Thanks for giving me another fish species to target, jimbjonez. 
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JesseC
Joined: 26 Jan 2013
Posts: 128
Location: Cromwell
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| Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2013 5:03 pm Post subject: |
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| PECo wrote: | | JesseC wrote: | | since we're on the subject, would this be a white crappie? or a black one? got it at a pond in town last summer |
From the pattern on the scales, that's a black crappie. The dark scales on white crappie tend to form a pattern of vertical stripes along their sides. However, the only way to be completely sure is to count the number of dorsal spines.
No offense, but that's a pale looking black crappie. I love the bright green ones, although the ones that are actually black are pretty cool, too. Here's a photo that TurtleKiss (aka Kira) took of one that I caught in the Connecticut River, last year. She tends to oversaturate the colors in her photos, but it really did look like this in the sunlight:
Notice that it has eight dorsal spines (i.e., the shorter ones at the front). A white crappie would have five or six. |
thanks for the info! the colors on that fish are beautiful! |
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NorthEastFisherman
Joined: 27 May 2012
Posts: 582
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| Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2013 6:13 pm Post subject: |
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| Ive caught crappies that were whiter than normal but definitaly werent a white crappie. |
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jimbojonez
Joined: 04 Feb 2012
Posts: 295
Location: Berlin/Kensington
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| Posted: Tue Mar 12, 2013 5:49 pm Post subject: |
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The place in Thomaston that I caught them before is splattered with no fishing signs as of last year, but they may have gotten in there from Black Rock Lake. Either that or they were stocked for the condo community for recreation.
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