Big Fish Fridays: Max’s crappie

At first, Todd Gessner was hesitant to book a full-day guide trip with a 6-year-old on board.

But Andy Morris of Peoria convinced Gessner that his 6-year-old son Max could handle a day on Rend Lake. What he didn’t tell Gessner was that Max could also outfish everyone involved.

Yet that’s exactly what happened for the last two Aprils.

Last year on April 3, young Max caught a 2.8-pound crappie (below) to earn big-fish honors.

This year on April 5 he did even better, hooking ino a 3.2-pounder that was again big fish. The big fish made up for a slow outing for Max, who had not caught a fish prior to hooking into that huge papermouth (above).

At the tender age of 7, Max has already caught a pair of true slab crappie.

“I know lots of crappie fishermen who have fished years and years and never caught a fish as big as either of Max’s,” Gessner said.