Magnolia crappie perfect for State Lakes

For decades, any crappie caught in one of the 36 State Lakes and State Park lakes managed by the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks was not of the agency’s doing.

In other words, the fish were not stocked there by the MDWFP.

“Crappie are too prolific to stock in small impoundments, which make up the State Lake system,” said Ron Garavelli, the MDWFP’s former fisheries director. “They reproduce so quickly that they are difficult to manage in small lakes, and can be detrimental to other species”

But in Mississippi, crappie is such a popular fish, valued for their wonderful flesh, that is the entrée of choice at many a fish fry.

In the 1990s, the MDWFP, along with researchers at the University of Mississippi, found an answer — developing a triploid fish appropriately named the Magnolia Crappie that can be stocked in smaller lakes without fear of domination.

It is a cross between two native crappie species — a white crappie female and a black crappie male.

And it’s not just any black crappie, either.

“No, we use the black crappie males that have the black stripe running from its dorsal fin to its head,” said Larry Pugh, the current fisheries director. “It’s a naturally occurring color variation in our native black crappie that has a benefit.”

Pugh said the stripe is passed on to the offspring, which makes them easier to track.

According to biologists, the eggs from the white female are removed at the North Mississippi Fish Hatchery, fertilized by the milt from a striped black male and then, at exactly five minutes after fertilization, are put under 7,000 pounds of pressure per square inch.

What the pressure does is turn what would become a diploid offspring (with two chromosomes that native fish have), into a triploid fish (three chromosomes). The resulting triploid hybrid crappie grows and functions as a diploid crappie would, with some even producing eggs and sperm, but the extra chromosomes interfere with reproduction at the cellular level so the resulting eggs and sperm are not viable.

It produces a perfect fish to be stocked in smaller lakes, and the fish is now commonly found in many of the MDWFP state lakes.

“They have become quite popular,” Pugh said. “They are a perfect fit for our state lakes, and those lakes are perfect for crappie fishing. Most all of them have a defined creek channel that is easy for fishermen to find, and the crappie usually relate to the channels.”