Quillback

Some further info: New World Record Paddlefish Hauled From Keystone Lake — Again! A new world-record paddlefish has again been pulled from Keystone Lake near Tulsa, less than a month after the previous world record was snagged in the same lake by a client of the same fishing guide. Angler Cody James Watters of Ochelata is the newest owner of the rod-and-reel world-record title, after snagging a 151-pound, 14.4-ounce giant Thursday morning. He and his son Stetson, 9, were fishing as clients of guide Jeremiah Mefford of Reel Good Time Guide Service. Not only did the fish prove to be the new world record for the species, but it also had a very interesting backstory to tell, said Eric Brennan, Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation Northeast Region Fisheries technician. Mefford called Fisheries Division staff about 10:20 a.m., saying he believed his client had just broken the current world and state paddlefish record. Fisheries staff rushed to meet the angler at Keystone Lake. Once there, they began measuring the monster. “It weighed 151.9 pounds, had a total length of 71.5 inches, and eye-to-fork length of 54.75 inches,” Brennan said. (The standard scientific method of measuring a paddlefish’s length is the distance from the eye to the fork of the tail.) Watters wasted no time sharing his accomplishment on social media. “I'm excited and blessed to catch a fish this big. Bonus having the son there to witness this day. Thank you ODWC!” Watters wrote. What’s more, the paddlefish had been caught in the past — as part of a research project. The fish had a band on its jaw. Once the fish was officially weighed, Brennan examined the band and “noticed it wasn’t one of our bands. It had an OSU reward tag in it.” The band, identified as No. 667, was in poor condition and was collected by ODWC, then the fish was released in good shape. “We only had the fish out of the water for the shortest time possible, about three minutes total. Other than that, we kept the fish moving in the water. It was a perfect release,” Watters wrote. Brennan confirmed that upon its release, the fish was followed using Live Scope sonar and it appeared to be healthy and swimming well. Later, a follow-up call to Oklahoma State University turned up information that the paddlefish was indeed part of research efforts by Craig Paukert, then a graduate student and currently a professor at the University of Missouri. Records indicate the fish was caught and banded in the Salt Creek arm of Keystone Lake on Jan. 4, 1997. When banded, this fish was about 2 years old, weighed 7.7 pounds and was about 2 feet long. So this world-record fish is about 25 years old! Wildlife Department Paddlefish Coordinator Brandon Brown participated in Paukert’s paddlefish banding efforts in the mid-1990s at Keystone Lake. When Paukert heard the news, he contacted Brown. Paukert told Brown, “It’s possible you may have tagged this fish while working with me way back when!” The news was exciting to Paukert. “This made my day! So, I guess this means that I caught the world-record paddlefish, but I didn’t realize it until 23 years later!” On ODWC's Facebook page, Paukert shared some details with Watters. "I was the last person to handle that fish about 14 years before your son was born! This was part of my grad research at OSU. The fish most likely came from a net we set between the Jellystone Launch and the Keystone Marina north of the (State Highway) 51 bridge. ... It was common to set nets across the river channels. "What made my day is hearing his son was with him today. Great story all the way around in a time when we need great stories. Wish I could have been there so we could have a pic with the last two people to touch that fish — 23 years apart!" Watters’ paddlefish will become the officially recognized rod-and-reel world record for the species when it is entered in scientific journals by ODWC biologists. This record fish is just the latest in a string of actual or would-be record-setting paddlefish snagged at Keystone this year: On June 28, James Lukehart of Edmond snagged a world-record-setting 146.7-pound paddlefish, also while fishing with Mefford. On May 23, Mefford himself hauled in a 143-pound paddlefish at Keystone, setting a new state record but missing the then-world record by just a pound. On Feb. 14, Justin Hamlin of Kellyville boated a paddlefish that unofficially weighed 157 pounds, but the fish had to be immediately released because it was caught on a "no harvest" day as set in state regulations. The largest American paddlefish on record, taken by a spearfisherman in Iowa in 1916, reportedly weighed 198 pounds. The paddlefish is a primitive species, with a fossil record dating to the age of the dinosaurs about 75 million years ago. Resembling a shark, it has smooth skin and a skeleton mostly of cartilage. A long paddle-like blade, called a rostrum, extends forward from the fish’s head. The rostrum is covered with tens of thousands of sensory receptors that enable the fish to detect weak electrical fields produced by zooplankton, its primary food. The American paddlefish roams lakes and rivers of the Mississippi and Missouri basins. Paddlefish were once very abundant across their range but have declined in many areas. These fish can live up to 30 years, and they can grow to huge sizes. Oklahoma’s paddlefish population is seen as among the healthiest in the nation, and the sport of snagging paddlefish draws anglers from many states. The Wildlife Department's paddlefish management program involves an extensive process of netting, weighing, measuring and marking paddlefish with metal bands on the lower jaw. For several months every year, the Department operates a Paddlefish Research Center near Miami, Okla. Anglers wanting to experience battling these large fish are required to have a state fishing license (unless exempt) and a free paddlefish permit. Regulations for paddlefish snagging can be found here in the Oklahoma Fishing Regulations Guide.

My apologies for the image, but it is the thought that counts. 😁

Pulled from BBC:

That's pretty neat, it will be interesting to see how the tiger trout thing works out. Seems that I heard that they are aggressive eaters which could lead to fast growth, but have the downside of getting caught frequently and ending up in a frying pan.

Couple of days ago a buddy of mine was putting his boat on the trailer at a neighborhood ramp, around the corner comes a wake boat, 20 feet away or something like that, buddy didn't have time to do anything before the waves washed over the back and into the cockpit. And in oblivious bliss the boaters just kept on going down the bank.

https://kfor.com/news/local/151-9-pound-world-record-paddle-fish-caught-in-oklahoma/

In 89 or 88, I was in San Jose CA for work, one of the guys that was local invited us over to watch a Tyson fight on PPV. We all chipped in $5 or something like that to pay for the PPV, something like 20 people at the house for the fight. Watched the preliminary fights, finally Tyson steps into the ring and it was one of those fights were Tyson put the guy down in the first round.

I wonder what he was throwing? I don't think I have ever seen him with a drop shot or any spinning stuff.

Saw a preview of some Tyson vs Sharks show that is supposed to air on NGC this week for shark week. Dude was still in good shape for sure. He can be funny too, such a 180 from where he was back when he was king of the ring.

Throw enough mud at the wall and something will stick.

Buddy of mine got cited by the PD for violating the no-wake rule in the Prairie Creek area on Beaver. I believe it was the Benton County PD. They have a 'navy' couple of jet-skis and a couple of other boats. He took it to court as the Arkansas law on no-wake has nothing to do with wakes, it is speed must below 5 MPH in a no wake zone. My buddy beat it as the cop didn't show in court and the ticket made no mention of speed. The judge himself admitted that he did not know about the no-wake law being 5 MPH.

405

333

OK, further brainstorming has led me to 117.

Upon further scrutiny - 648

I've got 4 answers. 810 414 54 36

Yes it was a decent one. Had one on yesterday that jumped halfway back to the boat that I think was a better one than that one.

They are going to have live coverage of all 4 days on ESPN2. Starting at 0730 CT Thursday. I like it because I can DVR it, as opposed to watching the live web coverage.

Be happy to take you out chasing them anytime. I never have fished for them this time of year so I don't know if this is just a fluke to get on them now, or a seasonal pattern. Usually once the top water bite slows down around early June, I'm done with them until it cools down in the fall.

I can't say for sure, but maybe 10 feet down? Had a lot of line out, 100 feet or so, 1/4 oz head, GPS said I was trolling about 1.5 MPH, but I think I was moving a little faster than that. 15 lb. braid and an 8 lb. leader.

Returned to Indian this morning, the fish were not as active as far as chasing shad, didn't have much to cast at so I started dragging the keitech around using the trolling motor, caught 4 stripers trolling, biggest was around 5 lbs, the other three were in the 2-4 lb. range. Same guide that was in the area yesterday was close by again today, saw them boat a couple dragging bait.

That's definitely a whole lotta striper!

Got there at first light again today, as I was walking down to the boat, saw a striper about a long cast away from the dock, knock a few shad in the air. Would've dropped the TM and made a few casts but there was a guide boat maybe 50 yards away from it when it came up and they were on it. Motored about a 1/4 mile away and started fishing. Stripers and black bass would come up on top chasing shad, no schooling action and pretty scattered but it lets you know they are in the area, along with some shad. Spend the morning throwing a 3.3 Keitech on a 1/4 oz head. If I had one come on top I'd cast at it, otherwise I would fan cast around the boat, moving a little every once in a while on the TM. I caught 3 stripers and a couple of smallmouth. Saw the guide boat one (they were pulling bait) and lose another. 2 of my stripers were in the 3-4 lb. range, however the last one I caught went a little over 10 lbs. I fished a gravel point and decided to move over to the other point across the cove. Rather than fire up the big motor, I ran on the TM and slowly trolled the Keitech. Had a little bump, didn't think much of it, moved about 20 feet and that striper hit that thing and just about pulled the rod out of my hands. So the boat was going forward, the striper going the other way, drag was just singing and before I could get turned around, my 50 yards of braid and leader where gone and I was into the backing. Made me a little nervous as I don't spend much time testing the backing to leader knot as this setup I primarily use for black bass and no bass is going to pull 50 yards of braid on me. Well I was able to catch up to the fish and get back some braid on the spool. Just as I did that fish got hung on something, don't know what it was but it felt like a piece of line, had some give to it, well all of a sudden I felt a little thunk, the line went weightless just like it does when you break off, so feeling somewhat dejected I started reeling in my line, the slack came out and the fish as still on. at this point the fish was done, came to the boat, laid on it's side, and I slid it into my somewhat inadequate net for a fish this size. I did keep this one as I doubt it would've survived. This guy was on the water before me: So top picture is one that's 10 lbs.. Next pic is one of the 3-3.5 lb. fish I caught, but they both look the same - bad camera work. And my best smallmouth:

Yeah I can't justify having one unless I found one at a garage sale for $20.