On a spring morning, in the quiet folds of Wayne County, West Virginia, a seasoned angler named Jerry Porter leaned into his line at East Lynn Lake and what surfaced was more than just another crappie. It was a heavyweight, slab-sided surprise that would etch his name into state fishing history.
The fish, a black crappie of startling size, weighed in at 3.6 pounds and stretched 17.7 inches from snout to tail. Thick through the shoulders and peppered with dark speckles, it dwarfed the average crappie most anglers are used to flipping into a boat. This was no ordinary panfish. This was a record breaker.
Porter hooked the giant using a tried-and-true tactic a jig tipped with a lively minnow, riding on a six-pound test line. No fanfare, no high-tech sonar wizardry. Just instinct, patience, and a little Appalachian luck. When the fish struck, he knew it was big but not state-record big. That realization came later, after careful weighing, measuring, and a call to the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources.
It was biologist Jake Whalen who confirmed the numbers. Porter’s crappie beat out the previous state weight record of 3.15 pounds, set just last year. While the length record, just a hair longer at 17.76 inches, still belongs to Dwight Priestley, the weight title now belongs to East Lynn’s waters and the man from Harts who cast into them.
Black crappie, Pomoxis nigromaculatus, are familiar to many anglers but rarely in this form. The species is often confused with its white cousin, though black crappies bear seven or eight dorsal spines and a more scattered speckling pattern. Most don’t reach far past ten inches or a pound and a half. Porter’s fish nearly tripled that.
There’s something almost folkloric about pulling a fish like this from a reservoir lake tucked into the Appalachian hills. East Lynn Lake, often overlooked, has been whispering its secrets to those who know where to listen. It’s not just a place for weekend fishing clearly, it’s capable of producing giants.
This isn’t an isolated feat, either. Earlier this year, West Virginia anglers landed a nearly 25-pound redhorse sucker, another reminder that these inland waters have more to offer than many give them credit for. The state, through WVDNR, keeps a careful eye on its fisheries, and these record-setting catches are clues to healthy populations and perhaps even shifting conditions.
For the rest of us, Porter’s story is more than just a headline. It’s a call to string up that rod, tie on a jig, and return to the lakes we think we already know. Because sometimes, beneath the glassy calm, a legend is waiting to rise.
.jpg){kind=link}