Iowa Angler Sets State Record with 3.95-Pound Black Crappie

An Iowa angler has set a brand new state document for black crappie after touchdown a large fish throughout a Tremendous Bowl Sunday ice fishing journey at Lake of Three Fires.

In line with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Micaiah Thompson of Greenfield caught a 17.8-inch black crappie weighing 3.95 kilos on February 8 on the 85-acre Lake of Three Fires in Taylor County. The fish surpasses the earlier state document of three.88 kilos, set in 2013, by seven-hundredths of a pound.

Underneath Iowa DNR tips, a brand new all-time state document should outweigh the earlier mark by at the least one ounce to qualify. Thompson’s fish cleared that threshold and was later confirmed and licensed by state officers.

Thompson and his fishing accomplice, Dan Ginn, had taken 5 youngsters from a church youth group out on the ice that afternoon. Whereas the youngsters targeted on catching bluegills, Thompson and Ginn focused walleyes utilizing jigs and minnows, together with a couple of tip-ups set close by.

The group was unfold out alongside a tapering level that dropped from 3 to 17 toes of water. Utilizing sonar, Thompson positioned a deep brush pile loaded with fish and started jigging close to the construction as darkness fell.

“At about 6 p.m., proper earlier than we had been on the point of go away, I noticed a good-sized fish come as much as my lure on sonar,” Thompson mentioned. “It missed that one, however I had one other rod down in a second gap with a inexperienced jig and minnow, and it hit that one laborious.”

Fishing with a small ice rod spooled with 10-pound braided line and a 4-pound monofilament chief, Thompson fought the fish for a few minute earlier than bringing it to the opening.

“I assumed it was a walleye the entire time,” he mentioned. “Even after I obtained it up into the opening, we nonetheless thought it was a walleye as a result of its mouth was so massive. As soon as Dan put a flashlight on it, that’s once we realized it was a crappie.”

The anglers weighed the fish that evening on a handheld scale, which learn 4.1 kilos. As a result of it was Tremendous Bowl Sunday and most companies had been closed, they had been unable to get an official licensed weight till February 10. The fish formally weighed 3.95 kilos on a licensed scale, topping the long-standing document.

Thompson and Ginn initially tried to maintain the crappie alive in an aerated bait bucket crammed with chilly water, however after the official weigh-in, they realized the fish wouldn’t survive and determined to maintain it.

Earlier that very same afternoon, Ginn had landed a 17.2-inch crappie, including to what was already a memorable outing.

The Iowa DNR encourages anglers who consider they might have caught a state document fish to instantly contact their native conservation officer or fisheries biologist to make sure correct documentation, identification, and weighing on a licensed scale.

Keith Lusher

Keith Lusher is an award-winning out of doors journalist who resides in Covington, Louisiana. He owns and operates NorthshoreFishingReport.com and writes a weekly out of doors column for the Slidell Impartial Newspaper. He additionally writes for the St.Tammany Parish Tourism Fee’s VisitTheNorthshore.com. He’s the previous host of The Northshore Fishing Report Radio Present and is on the board of the Louisiana Out of doors Writers Affiliation. Keith contributes to quite a few publications each on-line and in print and prides himself on selling South Louisiana’s distinctive fishery. To contact Keith e-mail: keithlusherjr@gmail.com