Jerry Porter shows off the new West Virginia State Record Black Crappie
he caught from East Lynn Lake. (Photo courtesy Jerry Porter)
West Virginia Black Crappie Record Broken
by Bob McNally, Outdoor Life
Jerry Porter and pals, Ron and Rodney Shelton, were having a banner morning of spring-spawning crappie action on West Virginia’s 1,000-acre East Lynn Lake on May 6 of this year. It was 9 am when Porter hooked a fish bigger than the others.
Porter told Outdoor Life magazine, “Every cast we hooked a fish. Then I stuck one that was different — bigger than all the others, and I panicked.”
Porter yelled for help and a buddy grabbed a net, scooping the fish into the boat.
The men released most of the crappies they caught that day, but Porter put his big black crappie in the livewell. Then they went back to catching crappies.
“We fished until four that afternoon because the action was incredible,” said Porter.
At the boat ramp Porter ran into another pal, Jamie Mullins, who looked at his big crappie and told Porter it was likely a state record and he should report it to West Virginia’s Department of Natural Resources.
“DNR was closed for the day, so I took the crappie home and put it in water until the next day when state offices were open,” he said.
The following morning, he drove into town where DNR fisheries biologist Jake Whalen weighed and measured the live crappie. It weighed 3.6 pounds, and was 17.7 inches long, making it a new state weight record for a black crappie.
The previous West Virginia black crappie record for weight was a 3.15-pounder, caught by Dwight Priestly from Woodrum Lake just last year. Priestly’s fish was 17.76 inches long and still maintains the state length record for the species.
This story, by Bob McNally, is used by permission of Outdoor Life. Bob McNally says he has been an outdoor writer, “since shortly after the earth’s crust cooled.” He has written 12 outdoor books, more than 5,000 outdoor magazine stories (including many for Outdoor Life) and more newspaper outdoor columns and features than there are hairs on a grizzly bear.
