How To Identify Freshwater Crappie

First, you have to know the different names of the freshwater crappies. There are the black crappie, white perch, yellow bass, white bass, striped bass and white crappie.

Identifying these different species is not easy to do sometimes, especially if you are looking at the white bass and white perch. These fish are all considered part of the crappie species although some people do not know this information. Here is how you identify each fish.

Black crappie has dark blotches that are irregular on the sides and fins. The color of the body is slivery on the sides and changes to an olive color or a blackish color on the backside. The longer dorsal fin has seven to eight spines and helps distinguish it from its cousin the white crappie.

The black crappie will feed more on bugs than it does other smaller fish. You can find black crappie in clear waters with little to no turbulence. The adult black crappie measures ten to fourteen inches and the world record weight is four pounds eight ounces.

White perch have silvery white shades with olive green sides. The belly is white and there is no separation of the dorsal fin. The third and second spines are about the same size.

The white perch has no stripes on either side. The average size of the white perch is about eight to ten inches, but some can be about fifteen inches weighing about one pound. The record catch for a white perch was three pounds one ounce.

White crappie is similar to the black crappie. It has a silvery colored belly with slight greenish color on the back. The males have darker colorations by the throats when it spawning time. The shortest dorsal fin has six spines, which is how you tell the black crappie and the white crappie apart. The white crappie will get to be about ten to fourteen inches weighing about one to two pounds. The record white was five pounds three ounces.

Yellow bass has a yellow belly with the bottom two stripes broken around the middle. The third and second spines are equal in length. The yellow bass has a tongue with no teeth. It is very easy to confuse the yellow bass with the white bass. The yellow bass ranges in size between six to nine inches and weighs about one pound. The record yellow bass is two pounds nine ounces.

White bass has a double dorsal fin that is defined. The fish is silvery in color shaded into a darkish gray to almost black on the white belly. There are several broken stripes on each side. The adults look similar to a young striped bass.

The white bass only has one tooth patch. That is one way to determine the young striped bass from the white bass adult. The average length is six to fourteen inches weighing a half of a pound to two pounds. The record white bass is six pounds thirteen ounces.

Striped bass is olive on the back and silvery on the sides and belly. The fish has dark stripes on both sides and a slim body. The dorsal fin is separated.

The lower jaw protrudes out further than the top jaw and the fish has teeth on the tongue. The striped bass can be as much as fifty pounds and four feet in length. The record striped bas is seventy-eight pounds and eight ounces.