Standing by the ice at Lake of Three Fires, Micaiah Thompson
displays his 3.95-pound record-setting black crappie.
(photo by Micaiah Thompson)
Championship Crappie: A Super Bowl Sunday Record Catch
By Keith Sutton
While millions of fans were glued to the television watching the Super Bowl, one Iowa angler chose a different kind of championship moment—one that ended with a new state fishing record.
On February 8, Micaiah Thompson landed a massive black crappie measuring 17.8 inches and weighing 3.95 pounds at Lake of Three Fires in Taylor County. The fish officially became Iowa’s new state-record black crappie, surpassing the previous mark set in 2013 by 0.07 pounds—just over the one-ounce minimum required for a new record.
A Trip That Started with Kids and Panfish
In an interview with Outdoor Life writer Bob McNally, Thompson said he wasn’t even targeting crappie that afternoon. Instead of watching the game, he and his friend Dan Ginn took five kids from a church youth group ice fishing.
“The kids wanted to catch panfish, and Three Fires is loaded with them,” Thompson told McNally. While the youngsters caught bluegills, Thompson and Ginn focused on walleyes. Using sonar, Thompson located a deep brushpile holding fish and began jigging nearby.
A Fish He Thought Was a Walleye
As daylight faded around 6 p.m., Thompson saw a large fish approach his lure on sonar. It missed once, then struck a green jig tipped with a minnow. Fishing with a small ice rod rigged with 10-pound braided line and a 4-pound mono leader, Thompson battled the fish for about a minute.
“I thought it was a walleye the whole time,” Thompson said in McNally’s account. “Even when I got it up into the ice hole, its mouth was so big we thought it was a walleye. Only when Dan put his flashlight on it did we know it was a crappie.”
At first, Thompson was disappointed it wasn’t a walleye. Then he realized just how huge the crappie was.
From Bucket to Record Book
The anglers initially weighed the fish on a portable scale that read 4.1 pounds. Because it was Super Bowl Sunday and most businesses were closed, they kept the fish alive in an aerated bait bucket filled with cold water.
Two days later, the crappie was weighed on a certified scale at a local lumberyard. The official weight came in at 3.95 pounds, breaking the previous Iowa record of 3.88 pounds from 2013. A state official later confirmed the fish was indeed a black crappie.
Adding to the excitement, Ginn had caught another crappie earlier that day measuring over 17 inches, nearly as impressive as the record fish.
Crappie Basics: What Anglers Can Learn
This catch offers several lessons for everyday crappie anglers:
1. Big crappie often relate to structure.
Thompson’s fish came from a deep brushpile near a sharp drop-off—classic winter habitat for large slabs.
2. Electronics matter.
Sonar allowed him to see the fish approach his lure and adjust presentation in real time.
3. Trophy fish can strike small baits.
A simple jig-and-minnow combination fooled a crappie pushing 4 pounds.
4. Know the record process.
If you believe you’ve caught a potential state record, immediately contact your local conservation officer or fisheries biologist. They can identify the species and ensure the fish is weighed on a certified scale. In Iowa, new records must exceed the previous weight by at least one ounce.
A Super Bowl Win of a Different Kind
Instead of cheering for a Lombardi Trophy, Thompson reeled in a trophy of his own—one that will be remembered in Iowa fishing history. His decision to spend Super Bowl Sunday on the ice with friends and kids turned into a once-in-a-lifetime moment and a reminder that you never know when your next bite might be the fish of a lifetime.
Sometimes, the best championship celebration happens at the end of a fishing line.
(Keith Sutton is editor of CrappieNOW and its sister publication, CatfishNOW.)
