White Crappie

White crappie are silvery, laterally compressed sunfish with five or six spines in the dorsal fin, dark markings arranged in faint vertical bars, a large upturned mouth with a paper-thin membrane and a long, forward-set dorsal that begins well behind the eye. Black crappie, their close cousin, have seven or eight dorsal spines and irregular speckles instead of bars, and the two often swim together. White crappie are native to the Mississippi basin and Gulf Coast rivers and have been stocked across the United States; they dominate the turbid, warmer reservoirs of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Mississippi and Tennessee. Most fish run 8–12 in and 1/2–1 lb; a 2 lb white crappie is a trophy and the 5 lb 3 oz world record from Mississippi has stood since 1957.

White crappie school tightly around brush piles, standing timber, bridge pilings and creek-channel edges, feeding on shad, minnows and insects, mostly at low light. They tolerate muddy water and warm temperatures better than black crappie, which is why they thrive in shallow, fertile Southern reservoirs. The spring spawn in 2–8 ft of water around shoreline cover, when water reaches 58–68°F (14–20°C), is the most popular panfishing event in the country; fish then move to deeper brush and suspend over channels in summer and winter, where modern forward-facing sonar has transformed the fishery. Their mild, flaky fillets are a Southern staple.