While fishing at Clear Lake in Minnesota, angler Rick Konakowitz caught a fish so rare it was like winning the lottery. He was using his Glow Devil lure and as the fish he caught rose to the surface he noticed a bright yellow hue. He told reporters, “I thought maybe it was a sunfish due to the color, but after I got it out of the hole, I thought it had the body of a crappie. I was a little perplexed.”
Konakowitz shared pictures of his catch on social media and learned it was a golden crappie which an extremely rare species. Also known as a xanthic crappie, this fish had a genetic mutation which replaces its typical coloring with yellow pigments.
According to Dr. Alec Lackmann, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Minnesota Duluth, these fish are extremely rare to find in wild environments. Adding that it was surprising to see this fish grow to 9 inches given it would be very visible to predators. While many may be flocking to Clear Lake to snag a golden crappie, Konakowitz is going to make a mount of his amazingly rare catch.
Source: Field&Stream
