Record Crappie Caught by Middleton Boy

The Idaho record for black crappie now belongs to a nine-year-old boy from Middleton. Jason Monson caught the three-pound, 8.96-ounce crappie at Brownlee Reservoir June 8 while fishing with his father, David Monson. The previous record was three pounds, 5.3 ounces and was taken at Lake Lowell by Frank Pineda of Boise in 2001. The boy hooked his record fish while trolling a shad plug. Jason's mother, Pamela, said her son told her "Mom, this is the best day of my life" after the fish was weighed. He is an enthusiastic angler who began fishing when little more than a toddler and has fished for catfish, trout, bass and sturgeon. Email photos available on request from emitchell@idfg.state.id.us According to the National Fishing Hall of Fame's 2002 record book, the largest recorded black crappie came from Louisiana waters in 1996 at six pounds, 0 ounces. Warmwater fish typically grow larger in southern states than in Idaho because their growth is not limited by winter temperatures. The national record for white crappie, a species that also occurs in Idaho, was set in Mississippi in 1957 at five pounds, three ounces. Idaho's white crappie record of three pounds, one ounce, came from Crane Creek Reservoir in 2001.