GREAT OUTDOORS: State record for hybrid crappie established

The Outdoor Writers of Ohio, with support from the Ohio Division of Wildlife, certifies and maintains the list of Ohio's eligible state record fish. It happens rarely now, but as new fish species are introduced or invade Ohio's waters and become established, they are sometimes added to the list of those recognized as state records. There have been separate divisions for fish caught by rod and reel vs. eligible rough fish taken while bowfishing for many years. Last year, fish caught while using "trotlines, bank lines or float lines" were separated from those taken with rod and reel and bowfishing. Also, procedures for entering fish that anglers wished to release alive were specified and fish caught from pay lakes and pay streams were declared ineligible. Where they co-exist, black crappie pomoxis nigramaculatus and white crappie pomoxis annularis naturally crossbreed and generate hybrids. Hatcheries also produce them to sell for stocking into private ponds. Hybrid crappies exhibit some intermediate traits including dorsal (top) fin spine counts; dorsal fin base length; body depth to standard length ratio; and pigmentation patterns. According to Fishes of Ohio, by Milton A. Trautman, revised in 1981, dorsal spine counts in white crappie range from four to eight, but are usually five or six. Black crappie range from six to nine but are usually seven or eight. Hybrids usually have six or seven. In white crappie, the dorsal fin base length, including the combination of spines and rays, only reaches the gill flap, not the eye as it does with a black crappie. It falls in-between in hybrids. Dr. Trautman used a measuring instrument known as a divider tool, used in drafting, metalworking, woodworking and map reading, to reveal this difference in his illustration comparing the species. Instead of having either dark mottled splotches like a black crappie or vertical bars like a white crappie, hybrids often exhibit pigmentation patterns that show both blotches and erratic, faint vertical banding. For specimens recognized as a hybrid crappie, the Ohio Division of Wildlife proposed to the Outdoor Writers of Ohio that they be added to the list eligible for state records. Other eligible hybrid fish in Ohio include striped/white bass (wiper), walleye/sauger (saugeye), Northern pike/muskellunge (tiger muskie), and hybrid sunfish. At the Outdoor Writers of Ohio annual meeting April 25, members voted in favor of the idea. The first hybrid crappie to be certified as an Ohio state record was a 4.27-pound, 18.3-inch long specimen caught April 1 by Jesse Miller of Middletown, Ohio. He was using a minnow under a bobber with a spinning rod and reel spooled with 6-pound test line on the Great Miami River near the Middletown Dam. To have a fish certified as a state record, specific procedures must be followed. They include having it positively identified by an Ohio Division of Wildlife fisheries biologist, who can be located through any of five district offices listed in the fishing regulations guide. It must be weighed on a certified scales, found in food markets, package shippers and other places where goods and services are priced according to weight (request a printed, witness-signed receipt). Then, submit the documents and photo of the catch within six months to the Outdoor Writers of Ohio. The full list of Ohio's state record fish, rules and where to submit potential record catch entries can be found at https://outdoorwritersofohio.org.