Why do male crappie turn almost black in spring?

It is breeding dress, driven by hormones as the male moves up to nest. Black crappie males especially darken dramatically — head, breast, and fins going charcoal to jet black, the "tuxedo" — while females keep the pale silvery look. The dark male is the nest-builder and guard: he fans the bed, spawns with one or more females, and defends eggs and fry alone for a week or two. For anglers it is a live regime badge — very dark males in your catch mean the colony is on beds right now, and the palest, heaviest fish of the same trip are the females staging just outside.

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