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You don’t see this every day. Earlier this summer, two buddies caught state record crappie while fishing together at a lake in West Virginia. And they did it on the same day.
According to a West Virginia Department of Natural Resources (WVDNR) press release, Lindell Marker and Dwight Priestly were fishing together at Woodrum lake on August 8. At 7:30 a.m., Marker caught a 17.32-inch, 2.85-pound slab of a black crappie, which surpassed the existing record, a 17.32-incher caught in the same lake earlier this summer.
But Webb’s record catch was quickly beat. At 8:45 a.m., his pal Dwight Priestly caught a 17.76-inch, 3.15-pound black crappie. Both catches came on live minnows and were confirmed by WVDNR Fisheries Biologist Cory Hartman.
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WVDNR biologist Nate Taylor tells Wired2Fish that it’s no surprise where the flurry of impressive catches occurred. “Woodrum Lake has historically had an excellent crappie fishery, largely because there is a substantial amount of angler harvest and complex woody structure,” he says. The fishery is currently in the midst of a tagging study that could improve management decisions for the impressive fishery in the years to come.
Taylor adds that 2024 is the first year that the state has created separate record categories for white and black crappie categories. The WVDNR determined that the existing crappie record prior to that was a white crappie — and thus, anglers in the Mountain State have been able to set several new black crappies records this summer. Taylor notes that Priestly and Hartman were using forward facing sonar, which “assisted them in finding fish to target.”
“I’m thrilled to celebrate this unprecedented fishing achievement and hope these new benchmarks inspire anglers from all over to come and explore West Virginia’s world-class fishing opportunities,” said West Virginia Governor Jim Justice.
Interested in more big crappie? Check out our round up of the Biggest Crappie Ever Caught.
