What a Crappie Fish Looks Like

If you want to know what a crappie looks like, you will want to read further. To tell if a fish is a crappie, you need to know about the body, head, tail and the underneath side of the fish. You can also tell during spawning if a fish is male or female by a slight color difference.

You should also know some characteristics of the crappie, which will help you determine the sex as well as if it is truly a crappie. It sounds so technical, but in truth, it is very easy to tell if you have a crappie or another fish just by having a verbal description to judge.

Black Crappie

The body of the black crappie is similar to the white crappie. The black crappie has a darker color with black spots. It has seven to eight spines on the dorsal fin. This fish is a yellowish to silvery-greenish color with large anal fins and dorsal fins. The dorsal and anal fins are almost the same in size and shape. The sides of this fish have black spots that intensify in color towards the back of the fish.

The caudal, anal and dorsal fins have dark spots in a row. The heads are small and the bodies are compressed while the backs are arched. The mouth however is large with the top jaw extending up to the eye. The black crappie reaches weights of three pounds.

The black crappie prefers natural lakes with clear water with little vegetation.
River waters with a very low current and that is not too murky also is a good place to find black crappies. Black crappies eat small fish, minnows, insects, shiners and adults prefer shad. Artificial baits include spinners, crankbaits and jigs.

White Crappie

The white crappies have shades of brown or green on a slivery body. On the back, this crappie has vertical bars on the side that are darker in color. The belly is white and they have six spines on the dorsal fin with a humped back. The white crappie usually weighs in at two pounds. The length of the white crappie is about six to fourteen inches.

The white crappie prefers clearer water, but can be found in some muddy waters.
The water will have aquatic vegetation. The fish eats insects and other smaller fish. An angler can catch the crappie with spinners, jigs, night crawlers and minnows.

Black or White Crappie Facts

The crappie will go for the lighted water at night because that is where the bait fish school. If you would fish the water at night with a dim light, you would see schools of crappie.