"It is still early in the 1996 fishing season, so anglers still have a lot of time to catch a record," Eastwood said. A record-breaking white crappie was taken March 1 on Lake Mary near Alexandria by Louis Lee of Maple Lake. Lee caught the 2-pound, 14.88 ounce fish on a glow-in-the-dark minnow.
Brent Lapierre of Sandstone used a nightcrawler to catch a record 10-pound, 3-ounce river redhorse on May 11. He was fishing on the Kettle River near Hincklye.
Lake Tofte near Ely in Lake County produced a 10-pound, 7.04 ounce splake on May 27. William Muesing of Hunting Beach, Calif., caught the record fish on a rapala. A splake is a hybrid offspring of brook trout and lake trout, stocked in some parts of Minnesota.
The DNR annually presents an award of recognition to any angler who breaks a state record. Those who catch a fish that might break a state record should:
- weigh the fish on a state-certified scale (found inmost bait shops and butcher shops), witnessed by two observers.
- take the fish to a DNR Fisheries office for positive identification and a state record fish application.
- complete the application and send it along with a clear, full-length photo of the fish to the address listed on the form.