[nick k]

Mine would have to be this hog of a crappie. I'm not a real crappie fan (the ones around here generally throw in the towel as soon as they are hooked and swim towards your rod) but this one is special because I didn't know they were in the pond. I have fished this pond with my friend since I was little (mostly with spin rod and hand lines, however, but I had never even seen a crappie there. At the end of the fall this past year, I was throwing a few last casts for the day when this fish gulped up my small wooly bugger. I thought it was a bass and was very surprised to find out it was a crappie. Aside from the size, it was a beautiful fish, made even prettier by the fall foliage and the time of day. Here he is: