Indiana Lake Depths

Panfish · sunfish family

Crappie (black and white)

Pomoxis nigromaculatus (black) · Pomoxis annularis (white) · also called speck, papermouth, strawberry bass

Native to IndianaRecorded in 89 Indiana lakes
Illustration of a crappie in side view
AI-generated illustration, not a photograph and not to scale.
Two species
Black and white crappie, managed together
Spawns
Late April and May, near 55°F, in 3–10 ft of water
Eats
Mostly small fish; also insects, larvae, worms and crayfish
Found near
Sunken logs, standing timber, brush piles and docks
Indiana record
4 lb 11 oz — Private Lake, Jennings County, 1994

Where crappie have been recorded

89 of the 111 Indiana lakes on this site with fish records list crappie, across 33 counties. Tap a dot to open that lake’s depth map.

Lake Wawasee, Kosciusko CountyLake Maxinkuckee, Marshall CountyJ C Murphey Lake, Newton CountyLake Manitou, Fulton CountyCrooked Lake, Steuben CountyCedar Lake, Lake CountyDewart Lake, Kosciusko CountyBig Chapman Lake, Kosciusko CountyKokomo Reservoir, Howard CountyOliver Lake, LaGrange CountyWorster Lake, St. Joseph CountyCedarville Reservoir, Allen CountyJames Lake, Kosciusko CountyKickapoo Lake, Sullivan CountyPike Lake, Kosciusko CountyBlue Lake, Whitley CountyWitmer Lake, LaGrange CountyBluegrass Lake, Warrick CountyStone Lake, LaPorte CountyDeam Lake, Clark CountyHoffman Lake, Kosciusko CountyLoon Lake, Warrick CountyWestwood Run Lake, Henry CountyBeaver Dam Lake, Dubois CountyHuntingburg Lake, Dubois CountyLake Celina, Perry CountyBrush Creek Reservoir, Jennings CountyWall Lake, LaGrange CountyLittle Chapman Lake, Kosciusko CountyRound Lake, Whitley CountyNorth Twin Lake, LaGrange CountyLake of the Woods, LaGrange CountyBear Lake, Noble CountyIndian Lake, Perry CountyBixler Lake, Noble CountyStarve Hallow Lake, Jackson CountyYellowwood Lake, Brown CountyGriffy Lake, Monroe CountyNyona Lake, Fulton CountyDiamond Lake, Noble CountyBarton Lake, Steuben CountyFish Lake, LaGrange CountyPretty Lake, Marshall CountyMyers Lake, Marshall CountyWestler Lake, LaGrange CountyPrides Creek Lake, Pike CountyAppleman Lake, LaGrange CountyRockville Lake, Parke CountyRiddles Lake, St. Joseph CountyLake Salinda, Washington CountySaugany Lake, LaPorte CountyLittle Long Lake, Noble CountyRoyer Lake, LaGrange CountyMessick Lake, LaGrange CountyLower Long Lake, Noble CountyScales Lake, Warrick CountyProvince Pond, Henry CountyShakamak Lake, Sullivan CountyHackleburg Lake, LaGrange CountyLincoln Lake, Spencer CountyGreen Valley Lake, Vigo CountyWilliams Lake, Noble CountyLoomis Lake, Porter CountyElk Creek Lake, Washington CountyFletcher Lake, Fulton CountyShock Lake, Kosciusko CountyEmma Lake, LaGrange CountySaddle Lake, Perry CountyFerdinand State Forest Lake, Dubois CountyCypress Lake, Jackson CountyMollenkramer, Ripley CountyMcClish Lake, Steuben CountyRosser Park Pond, Lake CountyPinhook Lake, St. Joseph CountyCedar Lake, DeKalb CountyEve Lake, LaGrange CountyRivir Lake, Noble CountyBuffalo Trace Lake, Harrison CountyBaugher Lake, Noble CountyGordy Lake, Noble CountyDixon Lake, Marshall CountyW Keith Ruble Lake, Vigo CountyRupel Lake, St. Joseph CountyPigeon Pit, Pike CountySchlamm Lake, Clark CountyMartindale, Wayne CountyFunk Lake, Vigo CountyCrooked Creek Lake, Brown CountyCattail Pit, Pike County

Recorded here Other lakes with fish records

How we know

  • 89lakes where a DNR fisheries survey caught them

A lake can appear in more than one line. A lake that isn’t listed may still have them: records exist only where someone caught, netted or stocked them.

Inland lakes on this list run from 7 to 3,508 acres (median 92) and from 6 to 90 ft deep (median 30 ft).

How many turn up in DNR surveys

Indiana DNR crews survey lakes the same way everywhere: timed night electrofishing along the shore, plus gill and trap nets set overnight. The standard method makes lakes comparable. These are the DNR’s own sampling rates from its community surveys, 2008–2025 — a measure of how many fish a lake holds, not how many an angler will catch.

Found in
82 of 100 lakes surveyed this way
Typical rate
1.8 per net lift where found
Highest
67.2 per net lift
Method
fish per net lift (gill and trap nets)

“Typical” is the median across the lakes where the survey caught at least one. Nets and electrofishing catch different fish: by the other method it turned up in 41 lakes at a typical 2.4 per hour of electrofishing. A single survey is a snapshot of one season.

Highest survey rates on this site

  1. Mollenkramer, Ripley 2022 67.2
  2. Lake Salinda, Washington 2013–2025 54.5
  3. Cedar Lake, DeKalb 2019 37.2
  4. Brush Creek Reservoir, Jennings 2018 33.5
  5. Huntingburg Lake, Dubois 2012–2021 23.8
  6. Cedarville Reservoir, Allen 2017–2025 14.9
  7. Ferdinand State Forest Lake, Dubois 2021 13.0
  8. Little Chapman Lake, Kosciusko 2018 10.0
  9. Martindale, Wayne 2018–2025 9.1
  10. Kokomo Reservoir, Howard 2019 7.2

Fish per net lift (gill and trap nets), with survey years. Survey effort and season differ between lakes.

Often found with

Share of these lakes that also list each fish.

How to recognize it

Count the dorsal spines: black crappie have seven or eight, white crappie five or six. Black crappie are mottled with dark blotches that don't form bars; white crappie carry 5–10 vertical bars and a slightly longer body. Indiana manages the two together, so this page covers both.

Don’t confuse it with

Black crappie — Seven or eight dorsal spines, a deeper body and scattered dark blotches.
White crappie — Five or six dorsal spines and 5–10 vertical bars.

Up close

Illustration of a black crappie's head and front half from the side, with seven spines at the front of the dorsal fin and irregular black speckles on the sides.
Black crappie: seven dorsal spines; the dorsal fin's base is about as long as the distance from the eye to the fin; irregular black speckles, not bars.
Illustration of a white crappie's head and front half from the side, with six spines at the front of the dorsal fin and dark vertical bars on pale silvery sides.
White crappie: six dorsal spines; the dorsal fin's base is shorter than the distance from the eye to the fin; dark vertical bars on silvery sides.

AI-generated close-ups, not photographs, drawn from the cited descriptions. They show what to look for; they are not a substitute for an expert identification (provenance).

Life in an Indiana lake

Crappie live in many Indiana streams, ponds and lakes. They move shallow in spring and fall, when they are easiest to find.

The male fans a nest with his tail in 3–10 ft of water, and females lay in one or more nests; a single nest can hold up to 20,000 eggs. Most Indiana lakes have no crappie size limit, because on most lakes one would leave more small fish competing for the same food.

Source: the sources below.

Rules and eating

Check the rules before you keep fish. Each lake page shows the regulations that apply there, and the Indiana Fishing Guide is the official source. Before eating fish from a particular lake, check the Indiana Fish Consumption Advisory.

All 89 lakes with crappie

Show every lake, by county

Allen County 1

Cedarville Reservoir

Brown County 2

Crooked Creek Lake, Yellowwood Lake

Clark County 2

Deam Lake, Schlamm Lake

DeKalb County 1

Cedar Lake

Dubois County 3

Beaver Dam Lake, Ferdinand State Forest Lake, Huntingburg Lake

Fulton County 3

Fletcher Lake, Lake Manitou, Nyona Lake

Harrison County 1

Buffalo Trace Lake

Henry County 2

Province Pond, Westwood Run Lake

Howard County 1

Kokomo Reservoir

Jackson County 2

Cypress Lake, Starve Hallow Lake

Jennings County 1

Brush Creek Reservoir

Kosciusko County 8

Big Chapman Lake, Dewart Lake, Hoffman Lake, James Lake, Lake Wawasee, Little Chapman Lake, Pike Lake, Shock Lake

LaGrange County 13

Appleman Lake, Emma Lake, Eve Lake, Fish Lake, Hackleburg Lake, Lake of the Woods, Messick Lake, North Twin Lake, Oliver Lake, Royer Lake, Wall Lake, Westler Lake, Witmer Lake

LaPorte County 2

Saugany Lake, Stone Lake

Lake County 2

Cedar Lake, Rosser Park Pond

Marshall County 4

Dixon Lake, Lake Maxinkuckee, Myers Lake, Pretty Lake

Monroe County 1

Griffy Lake

Newton County 1

J C Murphey Lake

Noble County 9

Baugher Lake, Bear Lake, Bixler Lake, Diamond Lake, Gordy Lake, Little Long Lake, Lower Long Lake, Rivir Lake, Williams Lake

Parke County 1

Rockville Lake

Perry County 3

Indian Lake, Lake Celina, Saddle Lake

Pike County 3

Cattail Pit, Pigeon Pit, Prides Creek Lake

Porter County 1

Loomis Lake

Ripley County 1

Mollenkramer

Spencer County 1

Lincoln Lake

St. Joseph County 4

Pinhook Lake, Riddles Lake, Rupel Lake, Worster Lake

Steuben County 3

Barton Lake, Crooked Lake, McClish Lake

Sullivan County 2

Kickapoo Lake, Shakamak Lake

Vigo County 3

Funk Lake, Green Valley Lake, W Keith Ruble Lake

Warrick County 3

Bluegrass Lake, Loon Lake, Scales Lake

Washington County 2

Elk Creek Lake, Lake Salinda

Wayne County 1

Martindale

Whitley County 2

Blue Lake, Round Lake

Sources

← All fish of Indiana