Went out and did some creek fishing in my yak yesterday. Did okay over 100 fish I would say, but only 7 were keepers. But the thing is LOT of black crappie and I was seeing some that looked like a white crappie but they had a long black stripe on there back and head what is that????

Ernest Paty puts it there with a black marker. Just ask him!

They are a sub-species of the Black Crappie. I see it alot at Cedar Creek.

i've always heard they were a hybrid crappie. called black nose

I have read several reports about the better eyesight. This is an anecdotal summary, but one that sounds feasible to me.

"The Arkansas Black Nosed Crappie is a strain of black crappie first described in the white river basin of Arkansas. The black nosed crappie have a black stripe running from the top of their dorsal fin, down their nose and over their bottom lip. Some believe the black nosed crappie reproduces less or is sterile, grows faster and fights harder than regular black crappie. So far no conclusive evidence has proven any of these theories. The most likely explanation for this black stripe is that it acts like the black paint football players wear under their eyes helping them to see better in certain habitats. The black stripe is the result of a recessive gene like the albino channel catfish. Black nosed black crappie readily breed with regular black crappie and are a fun addition to crappie ponds."

six or seven yrs ago when I started catching them in Palo Pinto I was told they were a hybrid white/black crappie and they only would cross-breed in the rivers of the the southeast (alabama, georgia, etc.). When I told someone with the game wardens office at the local store I was basically told I hadn't caught one there. whatever

I caught one of those black nosed crappie last night on EML. Wish I had taken a picture now.

Here is one I caught last weekend at Rowlett Creek fishing for sandies.

They are RayBob also.
Neat fish, Just really would like to know what kind of Pin Ernest uses?? Because it always looks so real..

Those are Ernests pet crappie.

I was a little stunned I�ve never caught one but I think I got 5 or 6 the biggest was just under 10 inch.

There are a LOT of them in Hubbard. I see them every trip.

I concur

Well Ernest does always carry a black Magic Marker...

We are lucky that Jason Anderson wasn't out there painting the tails blue like he did on the sand bass.