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A couple years ago, Sean Thornton caught a massive four-pound crappie in Arkansas that left fishing enthusiasts in disbelief.
While Thornton’s fish was not necessarily the biggest fish caught that year, it’s size, structure, and coloration were incredible.
Earlier this year, however, another Arkansas slab emerged that is ever larger than the one Thornton caught.
A Remarkable Fish and a Nice Surprise
On Saturday, March 4, Brandon Foley was fishing on a private pond near Joneboro, Arkansas. A long-time angler, Foley was no stranger to catching large crappie as his previous best was roughly 3 and a quarter pounds – an impressive fish in its own right and one that most anglers would love to claims as their “PB.”
While working a 3″ Storm Wildeye Swim Shad, Foley hooked into what he expected to be a fairly decent sized fish.
“I thought he was a bass probably 5 pounds or more the way he hit and fought at first,” Foley told Premier Angler.
It became clear quickly, however, that Foley’s catch was going to be special.
“Then when I got him maybe 10 feet from the bank I saw him roll up,” Foley said, noting that his wife and daughter who were fishing with him. “I was shocked.”
Not All Records Go Into the Books
For anyone who has landed a massive crappie, there is always a sense of excitement and, for many, the hope that the catch might be bound for the record books.
Considering Foley’s catch was significantly larger than his previous best, that hope led to action.
“I Googled what the record for Arkansas was on my phone as fast as I could,” Foley noted.
According to Arkansas Fish and Game Commission, the two current state records (as of this post) are:
- Black Crappie: 5 pounds, 0 ounces by Donivan Echols on Lake Wilhelmina in 2011
- White Crappie: 4 pounds, 7 ounces by Shelby D. Cooper on Mingo Creek in 1993
Foley’s fish weighed in at a massive 4 pounds, 4 ounces on his Berkeley digital scale.
While this was shy of both the black and white crappie records, it remains an absolute trophy of a fish!
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