Black crappie
Pomoxis nigromaculatus
- When
- Sep–Jun — January, February, March, April, May, June, September, October, November, December. Earlier in the south, later in the north.
- Where it holds
- Brush piles, standing timber and docks; shallow to spawn in spring, suspended over basins in summer and winter.
- How to know it
- Silvery with irregular black speckling, a deep flat body and seven or eight dorsal spines.
- What to know
- Spring spawn in the shallows is the year's easiest fishing. Paper-thin mouth — set the hook gently.
- The tactic
- Small jig or minnow under a slip float, right at the depth the sonar shows them.
Seasons, size limits and catch limits change every year and differ by water body. Check the current regulations for your province or state before you fish.
Found in these regions
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Also active in September
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Olive-gold flanks, a spiny first dorsal, and the big glassy eye that gives it the name and lets it hunt in low light.
Where and how to catch it →
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Bronze-brown with vertical bars, red eye, and a jaw that ends level with the eye — not past it.
Where and how to catch it →Photo: Joshua Johnson · CC BY 4.0
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Long torpedo body, duck-like jaws, light bean-shaped spots on a dark green flank.
Where and how to catch it →Photo: Daughter Dad · CC BY 4.0
