Possible World Record Crappie Caught in KY

[Woody Williams]

Possible World Record Crappie Caught in KY



For Mother's Day, Peggy Hopper from Crofton got a new Shakespeare rod and a Zebco 33 reel. She wasted no time in putting to good use. While fishing at a watershed lake in northern Christian County she caught what may turn out to be the largest black crappie ever caught in the world.

The slab weighed in at 4-pounds 14-ounces. It's over 21 inches long. The crappie is more than a half pound bigger than the previous Kentucky state record and six ounces bigger than the world record. It's size and weight have been confirmed by the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife.

The state of Kentucky does not differentiate between black and white crappie for its state records, but the International Game Fish Association does. The current IGFA world record for black crappie is 4-pounds 8-ounces. That fish was caught at Kerr Lake in Virginia.

Peggy caught her fish by casting a Crystal Shad Rooster Tail spinner around a small log next to the bank

[omegahunter]

I saw a guy bring in a crappie in a 48 quart cooler in Pfoff's in Terre Haute. He lifted the lid and the thing was touching the cooler with its nose and tail at each end. It looked bigger than the one she is hefting and it weighed right at 4 pounds. Only thing is this one looks like it is full of eggs. That may make a big difference.

[JohnSmiles]

Unreal.
A 2 1/2 lb crappie is enormous to me.

[hornharvester]

I use to live in Hopkinsville which is in Christian County and we use to fish a water shed north of town. I wonder if it the same one? The water shed was quite large more like a lake. h.h.

[midwesthunter]

i thought the crappie record would be bigger? blue gill is in the 4# range

[DEERTRACKS]

Nice fish!

[omegahunter]

I thought this was something recent, but this is from July of 2005.


DNA testing was done to determine if the fish was a Black Crappie or Hybrid, since the dorsal spine count of seven indicated it was a Black Crappie, but the markings on the sides looked to be of a mix (had the V shaped marks of a White Crappie, plus the black "specs/blotches" of a Black Crappie). This was done to verify whether or not the fish could be entered into the IGFA record book as the World Record Black Crappie. Tests confirmed that the fish was, indeed, a Hybrid - so no World Record title. So, the Virginia fish (4lb 8oz from Kerr Lake in 1981) is still the IGFA World Record Black Crappie (all tackle catagory).

Just got this off of walleyeheaven.com. At least she holds the Kentucky record, even if she is not eligible for the world record.