Satilla River Black Crappie Record Broken After Change In Fishing Plans

Kary Davis, of Jesup, with the new Satilla River black crappie record.

On Wednesday Jan. 11, Kary Davis, of Jesup, managed to set a new crappie record on the Satilla River while fishing with his good friend, Bobby White.

“We originally wanted to go to the Altamaha, but it was running too high. It had been a few years since I’d fished the Satilla, and I had been wanting to give it a try, so we decided to make a trip down there,” said Kary.

The anglers launched their boat at the FFA Landing near Blackshear and began to drift downriver. 

“We didn’t even mess with cranking the motor up. We were doing some bass fishing as we drifted and stopped to fish little pockets and eddies for specks,” said Kary.

The pair hadn’t made it too far from the ramp when Kary fired his 2-inch white curly tail jig into a slow-moving section of water.

“I was just reeling it in, kind of yo-yoing it when the fish hit. I knew he was a good one the time I set the hook. Bobby was scrambling to get out the net before he could get off the line,” said Kary.

Finally, the anglers managed to get the giant crappie in the boat and were able to appreciate its true size. 

The pair fished a few more hours and managed 10 more crappie, along with four bass, before heading to the Waycross Fisheries Office to get an official weight on the fish. The fish pushed the scales down to 1-lb., 14.08-ozs., beating the old record by more than a quarter of a pound. The fish measured 14.25 inches and now sits as the No. 1 crappie of all time to be recorded from the Satilla’s blackwater.

See all of GON’s official Georgia Lake & River Records here.

Requirements For Record Fish

• Fish must be caught legally by rod and reel in a manner consistent with state game and fish regulations.

• Catch must be weighed on accurate Georgia DOA certified scales with at least two witnesses present, who must be willing to provide their names and phone numbers so they can be contacted to verify the weighing of the fish.

• Witnesses to the weighing must be at least 18 years old, and they must not be members of the angler’s immediate family nor have a close personal relationship with the angler.

• Catch must be positively identified by qualified DNR personnel.

GON’s records are compiled and maintained by GON, to be awarded at GON’s discretion. Additional steps may be required for record consideration.