2.75lbs .... Watts Bar Lake, East Tenn
Lake Lanier 17.5" 2.5lb+. Never weighed it, didn't have a scale. Bank fishing. Saw a branch just barely breaking the surface and tossed a float and minnow next to it. After ten minutes, float disappeared and thought it was a Bass.
We have places all over C.c for big fish pictures. I decided to keep this on here and stick it. but since it is a "story" forum, try to add a picture and tell a short story about your fish. "D"
No pic so I guess it didn't really happen.
Back in the day people did not carry cameras fishing too much and smartphones were only on the Get Smart tv show.
My white crappie was 2.8 pounds. I was fishing from the bank at a gin clear gravel quarry. About feet from me were 2 crappies circling a nest. I dropped a small hook with a small chunk of worm in the nest. The smaller of the 2 would just barely pick it up and carry it out of the nest and drop it. After doing this about 10-12 times I finally hooked it. We weighed it and released it. Actually it was the smallest of the two. The female kept her distance from the nest. I was about 14 years old and with my dad.
I have caught several in the 2+ pound range and have some pics I have posted here at Crappie.com, but I have not joined the 3 pound club YET. I did witness two of my mom's older brothers come in with a 3+ pound crappie one afternoon at White Oak Lake near Camden, Arkansas. Here's a picture of the picture in Mom's photo album.
That's my Uncle Bill Stratton holding the fish and my Uncle Doc Stratton standing behind. Uncle Doc caught the fish on a minnow and Uncle Bill netted it for him that day. Those two old men were great fishermen and I loved them both. Had some great times with them. They gave me my first beer on a camping adventure one weekend when I was 15. I had become one of the men! I remember how bad that Old Milwaukee tasted, but I relished in the fact that I was considered a "young man" and not a kid anymore by them.
When Uncle Doc was asked if he was gonna have that fish mounted, he replied with an emphatic "He'll no, he's just the right size to make a turd." Both of my uncles are gone now and I can guarantee you that the crappie in White Oak Lake all breathed a sigh of relief at their passing.
GTT
My best to date I have a photo of is my avatar , she came off right at the bank and of course I said NO way I ain't holding that fish and jumped right on her in the shallows . My other half was with me that day and was like OMG that is the biggest crappie I ever seen !
Of course back when I managed one very similar if not larger , but back then we didn't worry much about big and it got filleted right after I hit the bank in the ole John boat ......lol
Largest was 3 pounds 4oz from Lake Barkley. Caught it on a slip-bobber minnow rig on a flyrod. I used to ease along the edges of the mostly submerged buckbrush and poke that minnow into any hole in the brush that would allow me to get the minnow wet. On that fish the bobber never stopped, just headed for the bottom. I was lucky enough to have about 10 pound line and dragged it over a couple of small limbs into open water. I really had no idea how big it was so I kept on fishing.
Not more than 5 minutes later and 15 feet farther down the buckbrush, I hooked and landed one almost a twin to the 1st. It weighed 3 pounds even.
The fish were both weighed at a small market on meat scale. They were then filleted and eaten by my family. This was well before the time I started doing taxidermy. I only caught 8 or so that day. We went back a couple of times in the days after and never caught anything. The brush was in about 3 feet of water along a narrow finger point. I think the lake started to drop and the crappie left completely.
I thought we had taken pics of them but have yet to locate them if we did. This was around 83-84. Of all the thousands of crappie I've caught since I can truly say I haven't had one 3 pounds since.
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