Minnesota Ice Anglers Stunned by Rare Golden Crappie

A rare genetic condition called xanthochromism gave the fish its striking gold color

A rare golden crappie pictured with a normally colored black crappie. A condition called xanthochromism likely gave the fish the unusual color. | Joe Shead

Somebody get these guys a lottery ticket! Two anglers ice fishing a small lake in Aitkin County, Minnesota, landed a golden black crappie—a fish so rare and unusual they couldn’t believe their eyes.

“The first thing that came to my mind was ‘oh my god, it looks like a goldfish!’” said Mike Tribby of Superior, Wis. “I’ll never forget that, seeing it come out of the hole.”

Tribby teamed up with Tom Smith of Buffalo, Minn. to catch the once-in-a-lifetime fish on a spoon tipped with a crappie minnow. These two anglers and the rest of their party caught several other crappies that day as well, but all the other fish exhibited the normal coloration you would expect from a black crappie.

In addition to the obvious golden color, Smith noted that the eyes, gills and tail of the 9-inch crappie all looked a little different from a normally colored fish.

Why Was This Crappie Gold?

The golden color is likely a condition called xanthochromism. Although rare, this genetic trait is not unheard of. Other crappies, as well as largemouth bass and other fish species have been documented with such coloration. And it's not just fish. Amphibians, reptiles, birds and even mammals can all exhibit this odd yellow or golden coloration.

In xanthochromism, animals display an unusual yellow color. It is a pigmentation condition that causes yellow colors to be more prominently displayed in the skin, fur or in this case, scales. This condition is similar to the way leucistic animals appear white (lack of pigmentation) or melanistic creatures appear black (excess pigmentation). And although crappies aren't red, in animals that would normally have red coloration, the red is usually absent. Xanthochromism is a genetic trait, but it's possible - though unlikely - that the odd color could be caused by diet or stress as well.

Why is This Adult Golden Crappie So Rare?

Although animals are rarely born with the trait, it is even more uncommon to find an adult specimen in the wild because bright-yellow prey species stand out from the rest of their kind and are easily picked off by predators.

A Fish They’ll Never Forget

To commemorate this once-in-a-lifetime catch, Smith will have the unique fish mounted on driftwood with a normally colored black crappie on either side—a visual reminder of just how rare this catch is.

Let's just hope these guys stopped and bought a few lottery tickets on the way home from their incredible day on the water!