This fish was originally declared a new state record by the Kansas Department of Wildlife & Parks (KDWP). However, the record has been revoked. Officials said upon further investigation, including confiscation of the fish and an x-ray, biologists say ball bearings had been stuff into the fish’s stomach. (Image courtesy Kansas Department of Wildlife & Parks)
Kansas State Record White Crappie Revoked
by Richard Simms
Last year we shared news of a new Kansas State Record white crappie, claimed by Bobby Parkhurst from Topeka, Kansas. Parkhurst claimed to have caught a 4.07-pound white crappie that was originally recognized by the Kansas Department of Wildlife & Parks (KDWP) as the new state record.
However, Nadia Marji, KDWP Chief of Public Affairs, now confirms to CrappieNOW that the decision has been reversed and the previous record white crappie (4.02 lbs.), caught by Frank Miller in 1964, has been restored.
Following an apparent tip that came in to investigators following the declaration of the new record, KDWP agents seized the frozen crappie from Parkhurst. Marji confirmed that an x-ray of that fish showed it had been stuffed with what appeared to be ball bearings.
Investigators said they received a tip from a witness (who was not been identified) that said Parkhurst first had the fish weighed at another location and it weighed only 3.73 pounds at that time. Investigators suspect Parkhurst placed the ball bearings in the fish before taking it to be weighed at a second location before he submitted the application for a new state record.
In a Feb. 3 Facebook post, Parkhurst publicly denied allegations against him, saying, “These officers came to my house unlawfully and took my fish after the kdwp (sic) announced me State record holder. They have now slandered my name.”
The situation is reminiscent of a 2022 incident when two men were caught, on video, having stuffed lead weights into walleye prior to the weigh-in in a major walleye tournament.
Capt. Richard Simms is the Editor of CrappieNOW magazine. Formerly he was a game warden for the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency before becoming a photographer and public relations officer for TWRA. That lead to a 30-year career as a broadcast journalist and freelance outdoor writer.
