4.52-pound crappie is Illinois' largest

A Southern Illinois teenager will have the largest crappie in the state record book, now that the 4.52-pound slab he caught at his family's pond in May has officially been confirmed as a hybrid. Regardless, Marcus Miller's fish is the largest crappie on record in Illinois, surpassing the previous record for a hybrid of 2 pounds, 13 ounces. The record for black crappie is 4 pounds, 8 ounces--and 4 pounds, 7 ounces for white crappie--both set in the 1970s. Rod Kloeckner in The Belleville News Democrat.