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Caught this guy Saturday at a little urban drainage lake I frequent; a new one on me. He's about 6" long; I'd say crappie but I've never caught one there before, plus the body shape doesn't look right. I've heard that crappies and bluegills can cross breed, but I don't know what a crapp-gill would look like. Warmouth possibly (doesn't look quite right either!)? Any ideas?
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...psxyalcvye.jpg
Looks a lot like a white crappie to me.
http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/k...pskdcysdg2.jpg
http://www.fishofohio.com/ohio-fish-white-crappie.htm
Crappie, aka Calico bass
I agree...White Crappie.
I've actually heard the opposite about Bluegill & Crappie hybrids....Although Bluegills, Redears, Pumpkinseeds, Green Sunfish, etc, hybridize amongst themselves fairly readily, Crappies never interbreed with these other sunfish. I haven't even heard of it being done in a lab.
Black Crappies and White Crappies can and do interbreed.
The shape of the mouth and position of the eye look a little strange for crappie, but I'm no expert.
Looks like a white crappie to me too.
Guess I'll go with white crappie. The "stop" (do fish have foreheads?) didn't look as abrupt, the body seemed thinner, and the eye placement seemed a little different. Everything else sure matches though.
Prairie,
Guess not all fish look exactly alike just like humans. But, be it a White Crappie or Black Crappie, in the fry pan with a little flour and salt and pepper and touch of garlic, they all taste about the same. Yummmmmmmmmmm. ;)
Larry ---sagefisher---
Roger that!Quote:
Originally Posted by sagefisher
I would advise you to forget the flour and get out the cornmeal. Some folks think the manna dropped from heaven for the Israelites was probably crappie filets, made with cornmeal.
Half cornmeal, half Bisquick, then salt, garlic powder, and pepper until you think it's seasoned enough, then a little more. Also works for trout (stocked and brookies only please)...
As others have indicated, this is a white crappie. The reason for the odd look is likely that this fish shows classic symptoms of stunting. The abrupt mouth and overly large eye for body size are usually pretty good indicators of stunting.
Stunting is a very common phenomenon for crappies (and, usually to a lesser extent, other panfish species) in small bodies of water. That is why most State fish and game agencies do not recommend stocking crappies in small ponds or lakes. Of course, like everything else in the natural world, there are exceptions. Don Gabelhouse once showed me data and photos of very large black crappie that came from a small body of water in Kansas. The ONLY thing they had to eat in that pond/lake was zooplankton and each other.
Gary
White Crappie. I have seen others from farm pond stockings that looked similar. To much competition for forage is most likely the culprit. A good population of "minners" would change that!
Gary,
Thanks for your professional info. I was hoping that you would comment. :)
Regards,
Ed