Duvall’s crappie weighed 4.2 lb. and measured 17.75 inches in length, setting a Wister lake record not likely to be surpassed for some time. He caught the slab on a jig in the lower end of the lake.

Up to that point, only one crappie had been caught — one landed by Clint on the first cast of the trip. Though Duvall said that first fish was a nice crappie and the fishing party was excited about a potentially great fishing trip, the fishing did not pick up. “We fished and fished, but caught nothing," Duvall said "Finally, right before it started to rain, I caught the biggest crappie we had ever seen."

Just one day before Duvall caught his huge "papermouth," another lake record crappie was landed by 14-year-old angler Jessica Ellis. She caught her 2.3 lb. crappie from Tecumseh Lake using a Rainbow rod and reel given to her that day by her brother, who is also a lake record holder for a crappie he caught in March at Shawnee Twin Lake #1. Ellis’s lake record crappie, which she caught on natural bait in an area behind the lake’s pavilion, was also her first crappie.

The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation’s lake record fish program was initiated in 2008 to recognize big fish from certain lakes and the anglers who catch them.

The program has grown from about a dozen lakes at its inception to more than 40 lakes today. So anglers all over the state can go fishing just for leisure, but they can also go with a sense of competitive drive in hopes of putting their name in a record book.

Species eligible for spots in the lake records book include blue, channel and flathead catfish and largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass in addition to crappie, paddlefish, striped bass, striped bass hybrids, sunfish (combined) walleye/saugeye and white bass. Minimum weights are set for each species and are detailed on the Wildlife Department's Web site at wildlifedepartment.com.

Anglers who catch a potential record from a participating lake should contact designated business locations around the lake that are enrolled as lake record keepers. A listing of official lake record keepers is available on wildlifedepartment.com.

Once it has been determined that an angler has landed a record fish, the media is notified and the public will be able to view information about the catch on the Wildlife Department’s Web site at wildlifedepartment.com.

An easily-operated search feature is available on the website that allows those interested to view a wealth of lake record fish information, ranging from the size of record fish caught to what kind of bait or rod and reel was used to catch them.

All past and current state record fish are registered in the lake record fish program as records for their respective lakes.

News Source: Oklahom DWC - Apr. 22, 2010