Steel weights found stuffed inside Kansas state record catch, KDWP says
Context: The above video was posted on Feb. 2.
TOPEKA (KSNT) – Kansas law enforcement and state wildlife officials have released new information in a state record fishing controversy.
Initial Reporting
Earlier this month, KSNT 27 News followed up with Bobby Parkhurst and officials with the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks (KDWP) after it was discovered that a new state record fish caught by Parkhurst was removed in November 2023. Parkhurst’s catch, a white crappie weighing 4.07 pounds and measuring 18 inches in length and 14 inches in girth, was initially declared a new state record in April last year but has since been replaced with the previous state record set in 1964.
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A KSNT 27 News investigation found out from the KDWP that the fish was taken off the state record list due to information on Parkhurst’s application not being ‘true and correct.’ At the time, Parkhurst claimed he completed his application correctly.
Controversy Update
On Friday, Feb. 16 KDWP spokeswoman Nadia Marji released an update on the fishing record controversy. In a press release sent to KSNT 27 News, she said the KDWP received a tip from an eyewitness who claimed the fish had been initially weighed in at 3.73 pounds.
“To preserve the integrity of KDWP’s state record program, KDWP Game Wardens met with the angler who voluntarily presented his fish for re-examination,” Marji said. “When staff used a handheld metal detector to scan the fish, the device detected the presence of metal.”
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Marji said KDWP game wardens took the fish to the Topeka Zoo and Conservation Center for further study. There, they used an X-ray to examine the supposed trophy catch and found that it contained two steel ball bearings.
(Photo Courtesy/Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks) Bobby Parkhurst is at the center of a state fishing record controversy after his trophy catch was removed from the state record list by Kansas wildlife officials.
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Due to this development, state wildlife officials removed the fish from the record list on the KDWP’s website. The previous state record belonging to Frank Miller of Eureka, Kansas set in 1964 was reinstated. Parkhurst’s crappie has since been returned to him as the investigation is concluded.
Marji said the results of the investigation were sent to the Shawnee County District Attorney’s Office. When asked if any Kansas laws could apply to this case, Marji pointed to K.S.A. 21-5824 which concerns making false information. Under this law, the creation of false information is considered a “severity level 8, nonperson felony.”
Katie Garceran with the Shawnee County District Attorney’s Office confirms that, following an investigation into the matter, there is insufficient evidence to prosecute the case.
The discovery of the steel weights in the white crappie presented to the KDWP bears similarities to a similar case in 2022 where two men were accused of stuffing lead weights into fish during an Ohio fishing tournament. The two anglers were later sentenced to ten-day jail terms along with other penalties in 2023.
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