In early April 2025, reports emerged of a remarkable crappie catch at Toledo Bend Reservoir, sparking excitement among anglers and fishing enthusiasts-and it was touted as a record. As the story goes an angler from Louisiana was said to have caught a crappie weighing 4.62 pounds “on the Texas side of Toledo Bend near the mouth of Six-Mile Creek”.
However, as of April 28, 2025, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) has not received any official application for a crappie over 4 pounds from Toledo Bend. Natalie Goldstrohm, Coordinator of the Toyota ShareLunker Program, stated, “There are currently no applications for crappie over 4 pounds that are pending review from Toledo Bend. If this catch is real, the angler still has over 30 days to submit their paperwork to the program.”
According to TPWD, the current all-tackle record for black crappie at Toledo Bend is 4.00 pounds, caught by Hazel Bolton on December 5, 2002. The white crappie record stands at 4.56 pounds, caught by G.G. Wooderson in 1968 on Navarro Mills.
For more information on submission guidelines, visit the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s official website.
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department recognizes fishing excellence through the Angler Recognition Program. The program maintains state record lists for public and private waters and water body records for all public lakes, rivers, and bays. Junior Anglers (under 17 years of age) compete in a separate division. The program issues certificates for several types of angler achievements.
The State Record Other Methods award category was replaced by a State Record All-Tackle award category (largest fish by species caught by any legal means). No previous records for the State Record Other Methods category will be revoked. However, the listing for State Records Other Methods category will no longer be displayed