John Horstman of rural Fulton, Mo., hooked a black crappie in late April that broke Missouri’s state pole-and-line record and could be an international record, too.

Horstman and his son Doug were fishing April 21 at a private lake near their home when he caught the whopper using a minnow for bait.

The 19-inch crappie weighed 5.02 pounds on a Conservation Department scale in Jefferson City. The state record for a black crappie was 4.5 pounds.

Horstman’s fish is larger than the current all-tackle record listed by the International Game Fish Association in Dania Beach, Fla. Two fish are tied for their record. Both of those fish weighed 4.5 pounds.

Horstman’s fish is destined for fame regardless of whether it becomes an IGFA all-tackle record. He donated his lunker – swimming – to Bass Pro Shops.

It will be kept in quarantine and eventually go on display in an aquarium at Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World in Springfield, Mo.