I remember it distinctly, March 21, 2015, Grenada Lake. The Magnolia Crappie Club held it’s Spring Big
Mama Open; we had 54 teams fish our Club Tournament and the Big Mama Open. Our top-five weights
were: 18.19, 17.39, 17.19, 16.68, 16.06 pounds.
We had some big-time professionals’ anglers and special guests, Tim Blakley, Tony Hughes, Jeff Riddles,
Mike Valentine, Matt Morgan, and Kent Watson. Our special guest was Jack Wells, CEO of B’n’M Poles.
Not to mention the other Professional Tournament Anglers that fish with MCC regularly.
My point is we had some of the best anglers in the country fishing the best crappie lake in the country.
The winning weight, caught by Hugh Krutz and Steve Stevenson (18.19#’s) and 2 nd place Tim Blakley and
Jack Wells (17.39#’s), would be a great two-day weight.
The tournament weights are not what this article is concerning. It’s about the number of 3+ pound
crappie we weighed. Our original club record held by Michael and Paula Nowell was 3.49#’s, caught
March 2, 2013, at Lake Washington.
Fast forward two years later, Michael and Paula break their old record with a 3.51# slab; moments later,
Troy Garrett and Steve Marquis tie their record with another 3.51# crappie. Talking about an excited
crowd, our members were ecstatic.
Then Lance Evans and his 12-year-old nephew Lane Carpenter come to the scales with two fish that
weigh 4.94 pounds. No big deal right, wrong. When their big fish hit the scales, we thought something
was wrong with the scales; they started reading around 4.15 pounds and settled at 3.92 pounds. The
crowd got so loud you couldn’t hear the P.A. system, jumping screaming, hollowing.
Lane and Lance had a fish of a lifetime and a new club record. To this day, it’s still a club record, six years
later. I know there’s 4+ pound fish in Grenada, Arkabutla, Eagle, and possibly Barnett, based on the
MDWFP shocking surveys. I’m sure with the new technology it won’t be long before we see a new club
record. March 21, 2015, Grenada Lake is what I call a “Day to Remember.” BW
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