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DES MOINES – Jim Winters of Jesup, broke the state record for buffalo by over 6 pounds with a 62.5-pound fish.
The new record was set, August 14 while Winters was fishing for walleye on Pool 9 of the Mississippi River. The 48.5-inch fish broke the previous record of a 56 pounds (48-inch) buffalo caught in Lake Manawa by Terry Gann in 1996.
The catch was verified by Conservation Officer Bill Collins, and later identified as a black buffalo by DNR fisheries biologists.
Black buffalo are less common in the Mississippi River and the large interior rivers than other species of buffalo. They are indigenous to the Missouri River, but their population has diminished since channelization. Black buffalo prefer habitats containing swift currents in deep waters over substrates of sand, gravel and rock.
Physical features of the black buffalo often cause it to be mistaken for other buffalo species. It is colored much like the bigmouth, except it is a darker, gun-metal blue and lacks the brassy luster. The body is slightly compressed, almost round, and the back is not arched. The head is large and rounded, with a blunt, broad and round snout. Specimens less than 12 inches in length are difficult to differentiate from smallmouth buffalo. Black buffalo often hybridize with other buffalo species, which further complicates positive identification.
The black buffalo is the largest of the buffalo species sometimes exceeding 80 pounds.
Uploaded: 8/27/1999
Uploaded: 8/27/1999