BY DAVE HURLEY
LAKEPORT – Clear Lake has been the prime location for crappie for Northern California fishermen so for this winter into spring, and in addition to the impressive numbers of slabs, the lake can now be known for the new California state record for black crappie. Dave Burruss, owner of Clear Lake Outdoors in Lakeport, landed the monster slab at 4.33 pounds, breaking the old state record of 4 pounds, 1 ounce. The record-setting crappie still has to be verified by the Department of Fish and Wildlife, but it was weighed on a state-certified scale after being weighed on two non-certified scales.
Burruss was out solo on Wednesday targeting largemouth bass, and he said, “It was a slow day of bass fishing as I only ended up with 4 bass to 3 pounds, but the highlight was a very unexpected giant crappie. I was heading to a different spot when I noticed three big fish on my new Garmin PanOptix Live Scope. I saw these fish, but I didn’t know what they were, but they came so clear on the graph. I thought they might be carp, but I casted my underspin out there anyway.
“The first cast came through with no follower so I tried a different angle on the next cast. I was able to watch the fish follow and strike the lure so I set the hook. I thought I had a 5-pound bass on, but when the crappie came up to the surface, I was like, ‘Whoa, that’s the biggest crappie I have ever hooked.’ I stumbled for the net, netted it and placed it in the livewell. I went after the other two fish for another five minutes, and there was one that I really wanted to catch because it was even larger, but they wanted nothing to do with my underspin.
