White Crappie

[erickol]

hey guys,

Does anyone know which metro lakes hold decent numbers of white crappies?

What about Calhoun? I have heard there are some in there, but don't recall catching any.

Thanks

[markkstanley]

Sarah does. Minnetonka also has a few.

[MNfishtrapper]

Waconia. Among others in the west-met burbs. I had a 14 1/2 incher taken out of Waconia two springs ago. I've gotten others there but deffinately more blacks though. I just caught a bunch last weekend on a lake in Victoria. Look for a lake that has a softer or sandy, light color bottom. Also check the DNR website for fish net pulls and see what lakes they've sampled whites in. If you notice a lake with both then it might just be the luck of the draw to hook whites. They'll be mixed together. They're around.

[iFishMN.YT]

Yea the DNR reports is a great place to start to find which lakes around here have whites. Use the DNR LakeFinder and punch in any lake you want to check and it will tell you how many whites and blacks were netted.

[znistler]

prior has a few but go to the st. croix for more numbers.

[SkunkedAgain]

I caught one on Nokomis two years ago through the ice

[deadeye]

I dont think there are any lakes that have huge numbers of them around here. I have had them mixed in on Medicine and at Minnetonka but its not a sure thing on either lake.

[metro fisherman]

I wouldnt be doing my job if I didnt ask. Why White Crappie? Is there a Crappie revolution going on that I dont know about?

PS. Good look telling the difference. Color alone is not the right way.

[chris63]

We got two real fat "Whites"last Sunday on Sarah!c63

[OLY]

French lake near annandale is full of them. When I lived in St Cloud in the late 90's we fished there alot and would usually catch more white crappies then black ones, but its been 8 years since I fished it. Otherwise St Croix in bayport or any Mississippi backwaters hold quite a few.

[erickol]

Metro fisherman, I just want to catch white crappie for the sake of catching white crappie, no revolution...... just one of those peculiarities some of us have I suppose.

Yeah, especially in juvenial fish it can be hard to tell the difference, but the vertical barring becomes much more apparent as they get older. I don't remember off of the top of my head, but there are a couple other ways to tell, one being relative positions of dorsal and anal fins I think (can never remember off of the top of my head).

[cRaPpiEMaN8265]

I wouldnt be doing my job if I didnt ask. Why White Crappie? Is there a Crappie revolution going on that I dont know about?

PS. Good look telling the difference. Color alone is not the right way.

The difference is white crappies are generally "longer" while black crappies are generally "taller" so to speak or have bigger "shoulders".. Black Crappies also have 5 tines on their dorsal fin near the back where Whities only have 4 I believe but correct me if I am wrong..

Ryan

[Johnny_Da_Der]

black crappie have 7 or 8 dorsal spines and whites have 5 or 6. USUALLY. Black crappie are far more common. The only crappie I have caught in the TC metro area that I am absolutely positively sure were white crappie were in the St. Croix near Bayport, like others have said. In my experience, a lot of metro lakes have really pale crappie that could be mistaken for whites, but were really blacks. Count the dorsal spines.

A Croix white:

[CrappieFshr651]

I've caught a few 12inch plus whites out of the croix in bayport. That would be your best choice. Otherwise like someone said, medicine has a few. There's a few lakes around the metro with a couple whites, but you're not really gonna find anything with a good concentration of white crappies.

[schr0563]

Whaletale is full of them... At least it was before the summer die off. I haven't heard how the fishing has been since then. About half the fish we caught out there last winter were whites. Problem was getting them over 8 inches...

[iFishMN.YT]

There are a few lakes that have more whites than blacks, but it is rare. I have a book with all of the decent sized metro lakes in it with stocking info, its easy to flip through and find which lakes have more whites. If I had it with me I would name a couple but I dont.

Many lakes around here have dominant black crappie populations, and the few whites that are there tend to grow bigger. On lakes that kick out a few whites, usually they are slabs.

Easy to tell the difference, blacks are spotted, whites have more of a vertical bar pattern.

[MNfishtrapper]

Good info on whites! I had no idea about the dorsal spines. I'll have to keep an eye out. I know whites generally have a barred complection on their sides as well. I'm excited now because I'm getting a real nice 14.5 inch white back from the taxidermist this week.