Crappie regualtion question

[offshorewreck]

Hey guys, i am a strict follower of the regulations, however i only ever keep salt water fish for my self but my friend wants to keep some crappie and i know i great spot for them i understand the size however my question is this.... for quantity it says 10 "combined" what does combined mean does that refer to black and white crappy combined or does that mean for everyone fishing that there can only be ten kept.. i couldnt imagine that it is only ten per group of people. but i want to make sure before we go out and get a ticket. any info would be greatfully appreciated

[joe2617]

10 comined black and white per person. Very few black crappie in NJ. Don't go by color, you have to count the bones in the dorsal.

[offshorewreck]

thanks joe thats what i thought. im just going to keep ten per person cause thats all that matters. i appreciate it buddy. just for curiousity do you know what the black and white have in there dorsal

[HerringKing]

10 comined black and white per person. Very few black crappie in NJ. Don't go by color, you have to count the bones in the dorsal.

I would say there are very few white crappie except for central jersey

[offshorewreck]

I would say there are very few white crappie except for central jersey

i thought so herring. i thought white were generally smaller then blacks and what i was catching, not becuase of size, but they looked more liek blacks im fishin lake hopatcong

[Fishdog82]

There's Black and White crappie throughout NJ but most are black crappie. All male crappies get a dark coloration during the spawn so it's difficult to tell at times. Generally white crappie will have vertical stripes and the dorsal fin looks like it's set a little further back than black crappie. Whites also seem to do better in dirtier waters like Salem Canal, Stewarts Lake, and Mercer Lake. That's not to say you won't catch a black crappie in these places.

[joe2617]

Sorry. got it backwards.

[IGGY2]

Black and White Crappie

Black CrappieWhite Crappie

The black crappie and white crappie are quite similiar in appearance but after you see a few of each species they are quite easy to tell appart. They both or of similiar color and shape but the white crappie is a bit more greenish and the black crappie is a bit more compressed.

The easiest way to differentiate between the two, however; is the markings on their sides. The white crappie will have the black marking on its side arranged in a few verticle bars. The black crappie however has his black arranged in a random manner forming no pattern at all.

Another way is that the each crappie species has a different number of dorsal spines. Black crappie have 7-8 dorsal spines, while the white crappie has 5-6 spines.

Crappie are schooling predatory fish that feed mainly on smaller fish.

[LBI SurfRat]

/\ what he said

[offshorewreck]

wow thanks at first i was like maybe they are all black and a few whites. as far as i thought. correct me if i am wrong. but i had believed that blacks got bigger than whites.
im going to really pay attention next time to the markings on the side as the dorsal fin i think its going to be more difficult to tell unless i have them by each other as they usually are hitting fast and qucik so i rarely pay attention. but now i will just for fun again.

again...personally i do not keep any freshwater fish they are all released to have fun again and again. thanks again guys i knew you guys would know the deal

[IGGY2]

Actually White Crappies can grow to be bigger than the Black Crappies.