148 Lakes · 70 Rivers · 88 Counties · 601 TownsOhio state record fish
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Ohio species

Black Crappie in Ohio

Limits, the record and stocking for black crappie.

  • 30 a daylimit
  • 4.5 lbrecord
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Photo of the species, not an Ohio water: USFWS Mountain-Prairie, Public domain

Ohio fish

A Buckeye profile of black crappie

The Division of Wildlife lists black crappie in 4 water classes for 2026-27. For ohio river western unit (ohio/kentucky), Ohio sets 30 (singly or in combination), open year-round.

The Ohio record weighed 4.5 lb, caught by Ronald Stone on Private lake in 1981. 30 lake pages here carry it on an ODNR hot-spot map. Hatchery records for 1985 to 1989 total 1,000 fish.

30 a dayfirst booklet row
4.5 lbOhio record
32booklet rows
31waters with pages
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Limits

Daily limits and sizes for Ohio black crappie

Water classWhereLimitSeason
Ohio River Western Unit (Ohio/Kentucky)UNIFIED OHIO AND KENTUCKY REGULATIONS: on or within a quarter mile of the Ohio River on its embayments and tributaries t30 (singly or in combination)Open year-round
Ohio River Eastern Unit (Ohio/West Virginia)OHIO REGULATIONS: shore anglers on the Ohio shoreline and all anglers in Ohio embayments and tributaries within the East30 (singly or in combination)Open year-round
Pymatuning Lake (Ohio – Pennsylvania)Pymatuning Lake20 (singly or in combination); minimum 9 inchesOpen year-round
Site-specific inland watersSeneca30; minimum 9 inchesOpen year-round
Site-specific inland watersPaint Creek Lake30; minimum 9 inchesOpen year-round
Site-specific inland watersSalt Fork30; minimum 9 inchesOpen year-round
Site-specific inland watersOxbow10Open year-round
Site-specific inland watersAlum Creek Lake30; minimum 9 inchesOpen year-round
Site-specific inland watersBuckeye30; minimum 9 inchesOpen year-round
Site-specific inland watersCaesar Creek Lake30; minimum 9 inchesOpen year-round
Site-specific inland watersDeer Creek Lake (Fayette and Pickaway counties)30; minimum 9 inchesOpen year-round
Site-specific inland watersDelaware (including the Olentangy River upstream to the Waldo dam, and Whetstone Creek upstream to State Route 229)30; minimum 9 inchesOpen year-round
Site-specific inland watersDillon30; minimum 9 inchesOpen year-round
Site-specific inland watersEast Fork30; minimum 9 inchesOpen year-round
Site-specific inland watersFerguson30; minimum 9 inchesOpen year-round
Site-specific inland watersGrand Lake St. Marys30; minimum 9 inchesOpen year-round
Site-specific inland watersHoover30; minimum 9 inchesOpen year-round
Site-specific inland watersIndian30; minimum 9 inchesOpen year-round
Site-specific inland watersLake Milton30; minimum 9 inchesOpen year-round
Site-specific inland watersLoramie30; minimum 9 inchesOpen year-round
Site-specific inland watersMahoning River between Berlin Lake and Lake Milton30; minimum 9 inchesOpen year-round
Site-specific inland watersMetzger30; minimum 9 inchesOpen year-round
Site-specific inland watersMosquito Creek Lake30; minimum 9 inchesOpen year-round
Site-specific inland watersO'Shaughnessy30; minimum 9 inchesOpen year-round
Site-specific inland watersPiedmont30; minimum 9 inchesOpen year-round
Site-specific inland watersPleasant Hill30; minimum 9 inchesOpen year-round
Site-specific inland watersPortage Lakes: East, North, Turkeyfoot, and West30; minimum 9 inchesOpen year-round
Site-specific inland watersRocky Fork30; minimum 9 inchesOpen year-round
Site-specific inland watersTappan30; minimum 9 inchesOpen year-round
Site-specific inland watersVeterans Memorial30; minimum 9 inchesOpen year-round
Site-specific inland watersKilldeer Plains10Open year-round
Site-specific inland watersSt. Joseph River Wildlife Area10Open year-round

Limits as printed in the 2026-27 Ohio Fishing Regulations (ODNR Division of Wildlife Publication 5085, effective March 1, 2026 to February 28, 2027) and the ODNR Lake Erie walleye and yellow perch daily limits sheet (May 1, 2026 to April 30, 2027); retrieved October 26, 2026.

More Ohio rules

Records

Ohio record black crappie

DivisionWeightLengthAnglerWaterYear
rod and reel4.5 lb18-1/8"Ronald StonePrivate lake1981

Outdoor Writers of Ohio record fish page, retrieved October 26, 2026; ODNR biologists confirm the species of a new record.

Hot spots

Where ODNR points black crappie anglers on lakes

LakeCountyAcres
Seneca LakeNoble3,587
Berlin LakePortage3,344
Alum Creek LakeDelaware3,331
Salt Fork LakeGuernsey3,060
Piedmont LakeBelmont2,377
Tappan LakeHarrison2,306
Charles Mill LakeAshland1,348
Dillon LakeMuskingum1,279
Delaware LakeDelaware1,215
Mogadore ReservoirPortage1,105
Clear Fork ReservoirRichland1,034
Pleasant Hill ReservoirRichland790
Burr Oak LakeMorgan668
Findlay Reservoirs #2Hancock645
Bresler ReservoirAllen583
Knox LakeKnox491

ODNR Division of Wildlife lake fishing hot-spot layers (DOW_LakeFishing), retrieved October 26, 2026; largest lakes first.

Stocking

Waters stocked with black crappie, 1985 to 1989

Acton Lake1,000 fish

Decade totals in the ODNR records: 1970s 195 and 1980s 1,028.

ODNR Division of Wildlife Ohio Fish Stocking Records (public copy of the DataOhio dataset, current as of May 31, 2022; numbers by water, year, species and life stage); the public file stops at May 2022, so later years are not shown.

Where to look

Buckeye lakes and creeks holding black crappie

Lake pages naming black crappie

ODNR hot-spot maps, ODNR stocking records, the 2026 trout releases, the steelhead and walleye-run programs and state records; largest waters first.

Related fish

Fish sharing a rule with black crappie

Pictures

Photo stops on the water near Black Crappie

Lake Alma, Ohio
Lake Alma
Photo: Dan Keck from Ohio, CC0 1.0
Big Darby Creek, Ohio
Big Darby Creek
Photo: Stacy Brunner, CC BY 2.0
Big Walnut Creek, Ohio
Big Walnut Creek
Photo: Sixflashphoto, CC BY-SA 4.0
Chagrin River, Ohio
Chagrin River
Photo: AngelP8823, CC BY 4.0
Answers

black crappie across Ohio, question and answer

Which length rule applies to Ohio black crappie?

30 (singly or in combination) on ohio river western unit (ohio/kentucky), open year-round; other water classes have their own rows.

Who holds the Ohio black crappie record?

4.5 lb from Private lake, caught by Ronald Stone in 1981.

Which Ohio pages name black crappie?

31 water pages here list it, led by Seneca Lake, Berlin Lake and Alum Creek Lake.

Do the ODNR records show black crappie stocking?

Yes; the public ODNR records show 1,000 stocked from 1985 to 1989, most in Acton Lake. The file ends in May 2022.

Is black crappie regulated on Lake Erie?

Lake Erie prints nothing separate for it.

When can I fish for black crappie in Ohio?

Open year-round on ohio river western unit (ohio/kentucky).

How much does an Ohio license for black crappie cost?

Anglers 16 and older need an Ohio fishing license: $25.00 a year for residents, $76.96 for nonresidents and $10.00 for residents 65 and older.

How does the Ohio River treat black crappie?

Yes: 30 (singly or in combination) in the Ohio River Western Unit, open year-round.

Head out for Ohio black crappie

Start with the waters listed above.

Ohio speciesOhio regulations