What does the black crappie eat?

The Black Crappie is like any other predatory fish, it will eat whatever it can catch and is small enough to fit down its throat. The mouths of a Black Crappie are somewhat small so it does not have the ability to consume a large percentage of its body weight in one meal. The most common meals therefore are quite small. Small minnows and baby game fish compromise the majority of a Black Crappie’s diet. If you notice most bait shops label small minnows as “Crappie Minnows”. This is done for good reason; they are hands down the best bait to catch Black Crappie. Like any other predator though the Black Crappie is opportunistic and will eat whatever comes its way. Insects compromise a large part of their diets, especially when they are in the shallow water patterns. Black Crappie love to hang around pieces of cover made from wood. Fallen trees and standing timber are both excellent places to find Black Crappie. Even man made objects of wood in the water are excellent place to fish. All kinds of insects are found by the Black Crappie in these areas and consumed whenever possible. For the angler this would include adding grasshoppers, crickets, red worms, night crawlers and even maggots into you potential arsenal of baits. The angler can also use artificial lures that mimic all of these live bait choices. Traditional crappie jigs work well as does hand tied flies for the fly fisherman. Though fly fishing is primarily best in the early spring patterns.