MENA — Donivan Echols, 11, of Mena, broke the state record for black crappie June 6 when he caught a specimen weighing 5 pounds on 12-pound test line at Lake Wilhelmina, in Polk County.
The previous state record was held by Danny Burfield of Ola, who caught a 4-pound, 9-ounce black crappie on March 29, 1976.
Echols worked hard for that fish, and he caught it on brand new tackle.
“He had made $75 working for his grandparents,” said Richard Echols, Donivan’s father. “He went to Walmart the day before, and I think he spent all $75 on a rod, reel and fishing tackle. He bought a Mitchell flip cast reel and he was trying to learn how to use it. I guess he figured it out.”
Donivan was still 10-years old when he caught the fish. He, Richard Echols and his uncle used minnows to catch crappie that day. Donivan caught progressively larger fish.
“We fish [Lake] Wilhelmina a lot,” Richard said. “His uncle was 2 feet from him on one side and I was 2 feet from him on the other. We weren’t catching anything, but Donivan was.”
They kept the fish alive for about two hours and weighed it at Rocky Stop, a store and bait shop at Rocky on Arkansas 8. The fish was 18 inches long and had a 13-inch girth.
“It weighed 5 pounds, 1 ounce the first time we weighed it,” Richard said. “It took five hours to get hold of Ronnie (Richardson) so we froze the fish. It lost an ounce the second time we weighed it.
Richardson, manager of the AGFC’s Lake Wilhelmina Caged Fish Facility, identified the fish as a black crappie so it could be submitted as a state record. He said the lake, which covers about 200 acres, has a healthy crappie population.
Donivan’s crappie might also be a world line-class record. According to the International Game Fish Association, the 12-pound line-class record for both organizations is a 4-pound, 4-ounce fish caught by Sheril Harris, March 18, 1984, on Paint Creek in Alabama.
Sports, Pages 34 on 06/19/2011