SOD, W.Va. — Dwight Priestley of Alum Creek, W.Va. and Lindell Marker of Sod, W.Va. are longtime friends. Dwight is Lindell’s Sunday school teacher and the two enjoy fishing together a lot. So everything seemed normal when Lindell called Dwight and told him to meet him at 5 a.m. on August 8th to go fishing at Woodrum Lake in Jackson County.
“I said, FIVE-AM??? are they up that early?'” laughed Priestley in an interview for West Virginia Outdoors.
The two headed to the lake for a day of crappie fishing and it wasn’t long until they were into an active school of fish. Lindell is a crappie fishing enthusiast. His phone is loaded with pictures of big crappie caught through the years. He has a number of citations for crappie and several were caught at Woodrum Lake. Because of his enthusiasm for crappie he was well aware of the measurements for the state record.
Listen to “Dwight Priestley and Lindell Marker on record black crappie” on Spreaker.
A year ago, the Fisheries Section of the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources revamped the state record system. One of their changes was to recognized the white crappie and black crappie as separate records. For many years, the record was simply for a crappie, which turned out to be a white crappie and that longstanding record is still the white crappie record. However, it opened up the chance for anglers to pursue a new record for black crappie which was established at Woodrum Lake earlier this year.
Dwight and Lindell were on the water and catching fish and by 7:30 a.m. and had boated quite a few. Then Lindell got a strike and from experience knew, this was different.
“I set the hook and started reeling and when I did I knew I had a good one,” Lindell explained. “I kept reeling and got where I could see it when it rolled up and I said, ‘GET THE NET DWIGHT, GET THE NET!'”
They got the fish in the boat and when he put it on his tape measure Lindell knew it would break the record. Lindell has a friend who works for the DNR and immediately gave him a call to tell him about the fish. The friend said he’d make some calls and try to get a biologist out to the lake to see if it met the mark as a new record.
The day was already a success, so the two buddies kept on fishing as they waited on the biologist. About an hour later, Dwight got a bite.
“I never expected it in a million years, fishing at the same stump where we had caught quite a few. My bobber disappeared and I set the hook. When I felt him, I said, ‘Oh Lindell if this is a crappie he’s a big one,” Dwight shared. “Then Lindell said, ‘He’s a crappie and it might be bigger than mine!'”
Lindell dutifully netted Dwight’s big fish which put his own record in jeopardy.
“When I talked to the DNR guy I told him he wouldn’t believe it but my buddy caught one that might be even bigger. He said, ‘And you didn’t cut his line?'” Lindell laughed.
Soon DNR Fisheries Biologist Cory Hartman arrived at the lake to learn he would be working to certify not one, but two state record fish.
He measured Lindell’s fist. It stretched the tape measure to 17.36 inches and established a new state record for length beating the old record which was 17.32 inches. Lindell’s fish tied the state record for weight at 2.85 pounds.
Once Hartman finished the paperwork and certified Lindell’s fish as the record, he pulled Dwight’s fish from the livewell and put it on the measuring board. The length was 17.76 inches and it weighed 3.15 pounds establishing new records for weight and length. However, that didn’t diminish their friendship a bit.
“Lindell is the crappie king, I have to say he is the crappie king,” laughed Dwight who added he had returned to the lake since his catch, but never got a bite.
“He didn’t get a bite because he wasn’t fishing with me,” laughed Lindell.
Dwight’s record fish was gently returned to the water in the same place it was caught. Lindell intended to turn his loose, but by the time they returned to the spot, his fish had died, so he kept it for a fish fry.
Dwight plans to have a replica of his record fish made and conversation starter for many years to come about the day two buddies had a day on the water for the record books.