Minnesota Fisherman Catches “Once-In-A-Lifetime” Golden Crappie

A person holding a yellow bird

Talk about a helluva catch.

When you catch your basic crappie while fishing, about 10 times out of 10 they’re gonna be your normal shades of yellow and green with some kind of dark spots.

For one Minnesota angler, that was not the case.

According to For The Win, Rick Konakowitz was ice fishing, when he noticed a bright gold colored fish that resembled a crappie in shape through the ice.

He weighed in on the strange scene:

“I thought maybe it was a sunfish due to the color, but after I got it out of the hole I thought it had the body of a crappie.

I was a little perplexed.”

The gold colored nine-inch crappie was caught last Wednesday at Clear Lake, and was described by Konakowitz as “a once-in-a-lifetime fish.”

Alan Lackmann, researcher at the University of Minnesota Duluth, said this crappie color is “extremely rare in wild populations.”

It’s described as “an over-expression of pigment.”

Loren Miller, a biologist for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, added:

“It’s a rarity for sure for any one individual to manage to catch one.”

Both scientists agreed it’s a miracle the fish had survived this long, as its bright color makes it easier for it to be noticed by predators.

Konakowitz concluded:

“The golden crappie to me was the biggest surprise in all my years of fishing.”

He added that he plans to have a taxidermist construct a replica for a trophy mount.

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