Seth

Thank you Von Reed for clarifying that. I've always wondered what the REAL answer to that question was.

Spoons get to be really big and when they get to flailing around with two 10/0 hooks in there sides, it's sometimes safer to use the gaff and lift them in the boat so that you can hold them away from your legs. Even then they will sometimes get you. Anymore, we just have somebody hold the fish in the water until we can remove the hooks and then bring them overboard so we don't have to worry about getting a hook in the leg/hand/etc. I did not know that about the possession limit. It just made sense that since the fish our not in my POSSESSION any longer that they don't count towards my possession limit. Even then, most people I give fish to eat them right away so the next time that I go, I'm still legal. Thanks for clearing that up for me though. Also I read the regulations and it says you have to quit snagging after "TAKING" two legal paddlefish. Does this mean just catching in general or actually taking them from the water to clean and eat?

Poor ol fish. I guess it got washed through the dam and then stuck up on them tree's during the high water.

I'm not reall familiar with the rule on catching and releasing paddlefish. I do know that you can only KEEP two and you have to stop and possession limit is four. We give a lot of our fish to relatives and other people we know that want them so we don't have to worry about the possession limit. With four of us in the house that means we can keep up to 16 paddlefish at once and there's no way we would ever have that many in our freezers at one time. I know in Oklahoma they catch and release them all day long, but if you keep one then you are done since the limit is one fish. Just guessing, I figured Missouri was the same way. There are several other guys I have asked the specifics about on that rule and have gotten different answers, but most of them catch and release there fish also. Also, I figure if you catch a short fish and have to throw it back and it survives then the big fish shouldn't have any problems. Leg Buster is correct in that we don't use a gaff unless we are for sure keeping the fish. There's a lot of guys we have seen that gaff everything even if it's clearly a short fish, which realy pee's me off but what can you do.

Hey Troutfishn. Phil was telling me about you. He said you asked if he knew me and I was wondering which forum you were from. Did you catch any bigguns? I'm gonna bring my girlfriend's dad down there this weekend and give it a try because he has never caught anything over 5 lbs in his life. He should be in for a bit of a suprise hehe. His jaw about hit the ground when we showed him that 85 pounder the other day.

Oh whatever you don't even know what a paddlefish is boy!! Here's some pics from his trip tonight, he just wasn't smart enough to upload them himself. All he knows is fishing and not computers like me.

I don't care myself, but my friend said he might kill me if I tell everybody haha.

Way up the James. If you got a boat that can run riffles, just find a spot where it drops off and it won't take you long to catch your limit.

My friend goes to college at Evangel and has found a couple good holes BESIDES the dam area to snag from the bank. He went last night and caught two small males and a sow in the 60 pound range. I just talked to him on the phone and he is heading out again to catch some more paddlefish from the bank.

Several miles below the dam. If you can find a spot where there is a riffle and then a drop off, you will catch paddlefish. You probably need a jet boat to get to most of the decent spots though or if you have a small aluminum boat you can drag through some of the riffles.

Boat

It took us less than an hour for four of us to limit out with 8 fish on Saturday. The night before it took three of us longer because it took a bit to find the hole. Once we did though we landed the rest of our fish on consecutive casts. My girlfriends first paddlefish ever. It weighed right around 60 lbs. My brother in laws biggun from Saturday. She went nearly 85 lbs!

My buddy and girlfriend and I fished Friday night and limited out quickly once we found the fish. They were between 35-75 lbs. My dad and brother in law came down and hopped in the boat on Saturday and we went back to the same spot and everybody was limited out in less than an hour. Dad hooked his first fish on his second rip of the first cast. My brother in law landed the biggest I have personally seen that went nearly 85 lbs!! Here's a few pictures. My girlfriends first paddlefish and she weighed 60 lbs My brother in laws 85 pounder. Pic of all of us with our fish we caught on Saturday and so I don't hurt my buddies feelings...Here's a pic of his 75 pound minnow too.... (he goes by Leg Buster on the forum here)

Well I am back and this was the best snagging I've ever experienced in my life. I decided to bring the boat and glad I did. We found a school of fish that were holed up that would blow your mind. Friday night three of us limited out with fish ranging from 30-75 lbs and today four of us limited out in under an hour. My brother is law caught the biggest spoonbill I've ever seen personally today and it weighed 79 lbs AFTER bleeding a bunch from gaffing and riding in the boat air drying for 3 hours so I'd bet it was pushing 85 lbs when we first caught it. She was a horse. I'll post some pictures tomorrow.

They are really stacked up below Springfield Dam on the James River on Tablerock. I didn't know when they spawn, but they moved in there all of the sudden and you can't hardly make a cast without snagging one now.

I've always put in at Walnut Springs and never had any trouble. Lots of other people put in there too. I was up there two mondays ago when the water was high and ended up sucking some debris up in motor and had to quit early. If you run a prop then you should be fine I would think and if you have a jet, just bring a piece of wire to clean out the "pee hole" on the motor if you do clog it up. I'd like to make it down there this weekend and fish, but haven't decided for sure yet if I will or not due to the cost of fuel.

Lordy that's way up the river, darn near to Kansas. Did you get any big ol sows?

That's pretty neat that you caught such a varety of fish. You right about them carp. They sure ain't pretty but they make up for it when it comes to fighting.

I asked that same question earlier this year on the Lake of the ozarks thread. There's a kid here in town that fishes that area of the lake and said he did pretty good this year. Another guy from the catfish1 forum went there opening weekend and they caught I believe it was 7 between four of them up to 54 lbs. That's a lot closer than Warsaw or Tablerock to me so I need to give it a try sometime I guess. By the way did you do any good up by the Oar House this past weekend?

I'm planning on coming down and snagging there this Friday evening and Saturday morning. Last Monday I was down there snagging and caught a bunch of common carp as they were everywhere, but didn't see any spoonbill caught. From what I heard from the locals, it's best early in the morning right away and then right at dark. Good luck if you go down there and let us know how you did.

Myself and several others I know have fished in waters flowing faster than Taneycomo are plenty of times. Just don't act stupid and be extra cautious and you will be fine. I see no reason not to fish if you have quality equipment and put your faith in it and know the waters. Bill probably knows those waters better than most anyways.

I was down there last monday in the boat and snagged from the Walnut Springs boat ramp on down to point 15 with no luck. A few fish were marked on the graph early just below Walnut Springs, but that was it. The water temps were around 58 degrees. I'd say your best bet with all of this high water is to just not bother taking the boat and head up to the Lake Springfield dam and snag. They have started catching a couple sows up that way last I heard.

that's a 35 lber I'd guess. Nice fish. I went down there last Monday and tried snagging spoonbill, but only got a bunch of common carp. Maybe this high water will have them spoonbill all over there at the dam and we can still go snagging next weekend.

You shouldn't have any trouble catching fish if you get in there close enough to fish. They have been biting really good in this high water. The fast water below the riffles have been holding a ton of fish and some nice ones at that.

Well he is still in there so you will just have to come back later with some stouter tackle and catch him again. Atleast you came away with a good story and got to atleast see him and touch him for a split second. Good story!