California Has a New State Record Black Crappie

He was having a slow day on the water until catching the giant panfish. “I was heading to a different spot when I noticed three big fish on my new Garmin Panoptix LiveScope. I saw these fish, but I didn’t know what they were, but they came so clear on the graph. I thought they might be carp, but I casted my Underspin out there anyway,” Burruss told Western Outdoor News.

The fish were suspended 6 to 10 feet deep in 25 feet of water. Although he didn’t hook anything the first cast, the second cast did the trick. The crappie took the 4-inch Keitech Easy Shiner, and until Buruss saw the fish surface, he assumed it was a bass.

When it weighed 4.4 pounds on his boat scale, Buruss knew he had a record fish.

“I went after the other two fish for another five minutes, and there was one that I really wanted to catch because it was even larger, but they wanted nothing to do with my underspin,” Buruss said. “The big crappie are really aggressive and eating right now. There was a 3.5-pound slab landed this week on a big 4.75-inch Rage Swimmer. When they get this large, they are eating.”

On Mar. 8, California Fish and Wildlife verified that Burruss broke the 46-year-old California record by 4 ounces. The fish measured 17 ¾ inches in length with an impressive 17-inch girth. Clear Lake, known for its excellent bass fishing, has now produced both California record black crappie, as well as the record white crappie from ’71.

Buruss knows more lunker crappie are lurking in the lake, though.

“To be honest, I don’t think this record will last a year.”

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Feature image via Terry Knight.