Crappie Fishing Basics
Black and White Crappies have populated throughout the United States and Southern Canada largely do to major stocking efforts that started back in the late 1800's. These fish can know be found there is a freshwater lake river or stream. This fish species is one of the best to target if you are a beginning fisherman. If you have young children who are interested in trying the sport of fishing than taking them crappie fishing would be the best way to perk their interest.
Fishing for crappies is really a very in-expensive way to get into the sport of fishing and even beginners will catch fish. Here's a small list of fishing equipment you will need. Get yourself a cane pole that is over 10ft long, some 3 to 4 lb test line, some crappie hooks, and a small bobber. All these items can be found at most bait shops and at any department store. Many times when you purchase the cane pole these items will already bee rigged up for you. Amazingly all these items can be purchased for under 25$. Of course if you get really interested in crappie fishing you will need to invest in some better equipment, but why bother until you get the fishing bug.
You will still need to learn some basic facts about this fish before you attempt to go fishing. You need to do a little bit of reading so you know what there typical habitat is so you know where to find them. I would suggest while you are getting your crappies live bait at the local bait shop that you ask a few questions as to where the fish are biting. This will save you time and also keep you from getting frustrated.
Get on the internet and do some simple crappie anatomy research , for example you probably did not know that the crappies eyes can not move in a position to look downward, so therefore if you bait is below them they will never see it. Also you need to know there are two types of these fish. The two species of crappie are the black (Pomoxis nigromaculatus) and the white (Pomoxis annularis). Both these fish are found only in North America, and they belong to the sunfish family (Centrarchidae).The sunfish family also includes such fish as the largemouth bass, bluegills, and other warm water game fish. These fish have been stocked very heavily for the East Coast to the West Coast and from southern Ontario into Mexico and Now Panama and they can be found anywhere there is a lake a stream or rivers. Crappie fishing basics will work for both the white and the black crappies. To identify either of these fish here's a few tips Black crappie tend to be a shade darker then their sister white crappie. And they have a irregular pattern of spots on their bodies. The lighter colored white crappie will have a distinct vertical pattern of spots on their bodies. Here's another way of identifying the two crappies. Count the number of splines on the dorsal fin. If the count is between 7 and 8 the fish is a black crappie, if the count is between 5 and 6 then you have a white crappie. The blacks really like colder water so they do better in the northern parts of the hemisphere as well as fast moving streams and rivers. The whites seem to like large lakes and slow moving rivers like in the south. To be honest through there Is no real separation because these fish can be found together in all the lower 48 states and into Mexico. And they do cross breed so there are a lot of cross breeds.
The crappie's size will depend totally on it's local environment, and there size will cycle over time, but on the average you can expect to catch fish from 1/2l to 1lb each. In most local fishing locations you can catch fish into the 2lb range if you stick to good crappie fishing basics. A record white crappie was caught in Enid Lake Mississippi and weighed in at 5lb 2onces. The largest white crappie on record was caught in Enid Lake Mississippi, and was recorded to be 5lb and 2 ounces. There is a tie for the record black crappie, a 4lb 8once black was caught at both Kerr Lake Virginia and Otoe Lake Nebraska.
Crappies feed on small fish, like your typical crappie fishing minnow and small aquatic insects and tiny crustaceans. The young fish will feed primarily on the small crustaceans and insects while the larger adults diet consists mainly on small fish. Studies have been conducted on the both the white and black adult crappies and it seems that the black will feed a great deal on insects in the spring and switch to small fish such as minnows throughout the rest of the year. The adult white's primary meal is small fish such as minnows throughout the year.
Just remember when your fishing for the crappies to have fun! If you stick to some crappie fishing basics there's a good chance you will come away with a basic full of good eating fish, so GOOD LUCK!
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Fishing for crappie basics
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