Paddle Fish

Had a paddle fish up to the boat on Friday. Anyone else ever blessed with the presence of such a
spectacular species?

Jim W

Yep I caught one once and it had teeth marks on it.
I don’t know what tried to eat it but the paddle was missing and it was bleeding. I
didn’t know what it was untill later but I thought that it was a paddlefish
and I let it go. I’ll have to see if I can did up a photo and post it. It sure looked strange without
a paddle. All I could figure is something bigger with teeth tried to get half
of a sheephead that I was using for bait and the paddlefish got in the way. It’s been a
long time since I went swimming there.
Steve

a guy has to wonder how many of those lunkers are swimming arround in the ole mighty mississippi…..

37. no wait…let me think…yup-37.

This is a picture of a Paddle Fish I caught this summer on pool 4 during a guide trip on Lake Pepin. This monster weighed a whopping 44lbs on my digital scale .

Dustin,

Holy Moses!!! What a fine specimen!!!!!! ANy story to go along with it? They are something else!!

Jim W

Jim, not much of a story to it. We were trolling cranks and my client had just hooked up with a walleye so I started to bring in the other rod. When I almost had the line in all of a sudden my drag started to scream. I had 10′ of line out when I hooked in to it and it never stopped until it had taken 225′. When we saw how big it was( because it surfaced once it slowed down) we used the big motor to run it down and get it in to the boat. When we first saw the mammoth beast we had no idea what it was at first until seeing the bill of the beast.

The guy I was guiding wanted to eat it…….needless to say I thought it was a better idea we let it go.

Good call Dustin.
That thing might of made some pretty nasty sandwiches

What a prehistoric monster!

Well, it definitely added more to the photo! I wonder how a guy would filet them there bills???lol

Thanks for sharing, helping me visualize a fine catch!

Jim W

This guy was from down south. He said they eat them all the time and they are pretty tasty. He referred to it as a spoon bill catfish.

I’ll be sticking to deep fat fried walleye for my meals! I have a rule that I will not eat anything uglier than myself! let the jokes fly!

Jumpin’ Jehosaphat Dustin!!! That’s the biggest Paddlefish photo I’ve ever seen! WOW!!

Certainly a good call putting that critter back in the water………………..if I remember right, it’s illegal to have one of those in possession. In WI for sure…………..unsure of the border question.

What a great photo and story!!!

Hey Dustin,, i was wondering if u snagged that ole boy or did u get it in the mouth,,, i heard from some people that there a plankton and veggy eater,,, just curious,,,, that fish is one that i wouldnt want to mount above my fireplace,,,

It was snagged and they are illegal to keep on the river.

My uncle goes up to ND on the Misouri somewhere each year snagging these fish. You get one tag per season. They have caught them as large as 100lbs. I guess they are fantastic eating fish. I prefer my walleyes and perch. I’ll see if I can find the pics he sent me.