Record black crappie caught at Boysen Reservoir

Troy Schnepper caught the record black crappie on New Year’s Eve. (Photo provided)

(Lander, Wyo.) – Wyoming’s black crappie state record has been broken for the first time since 1997. The new record black crappie was caught out of Boysen Reservoir on New Year’s Eve.

Casper angler Troy Schnepper set the new record with a fish that weighed in at 2 pounds 7.4 ounces. Schnepper’s fish was 15 3/8 inches long with a girth of 13 1/2 inches. Black crappies are an introduced species that provide diversity to sport fishing at Boysen as many anglers enjoy catching and eating them. Young crappies are a source of forage for larger predatory fish such as walleye and sauger.

Schnepper was fishing for crappie and was jigging a Northland forge minnow lure. He had already caught some good-sized crappies that day, so he knew he was on a decent fishing hole. When the record crappie took hold, Schnepper said it was dragging so much he thought he may have a walleye or sauger. When he pulled the crappie out and set it next to the others, Schnepper said he knew he had a good one. When he arrived home and checked the state record listing, he thought his fish had a chance of breaking the existing record. After getting the fish weighed and verified, Schnepper became the new record holder. The previous state record black crappie was caught on Dec. 4, 1997, at Boysen by Thermopolis angler Edward Hausauer.

To qualify for a new fish record, anglers need to have the fish weighed on a certified scale and have it verified by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. A list of state record fish is at wgfd.wyo.gov.

–Wyoming Game & Fish Department