Holly Haddan of Springfield, Mo. was fishing in the private pond on her property that she moved to recently just to see what was in there while her brother was home on leave from the Marines. While fishing, she landed a large and very rare golden crappie.
Golden crappie are actually the result of a genetic condition—known as xanthochromism—that causes fish to have a much more orange or yellow pigment to them. Crappie are typically white with black bars or spots. The yellow color is very abnormal for the species of black and white crappie.
Haddan’s golden crappie is not the first we’ve seen but golden crappie are extremely rare. We’ve maybe seen a half dozen in the last decade from covering recreational fishing all over the country. This is certainly the biggest we’ve ever seen. We’ve seen orange bass in Florida with a similar condition.
“I wasn’t expecting to catch this fish,” Haddan said. “We were just fishing to see what was in the pond. I was very surprised to pull this one in. It’s very vibrant. The picture doesn’t do it justice. It shines like gold when the sun hits it just right.”
Haddan put the fish in a koi pond but plans to release it back into the original pond soon.
“I like to eat fish, but I also don’t see the need to kill something if there is not point to it.”
Here’s a couple more pictures of her 13-inch Golden Crappie.
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