MO state record paddlefish caught in Table Rock

[WettinLine]

Some of us frown on it down here too, but it's a "thing" for many.

My tax dollars stock those fish and the MDC allows it, what is to look down on? I don't look down in ARigs or the Ned Rig, is that your "thing"?

[Bill Babler]

Both Paddlefish and Suckers can only be harvested by snagging. It is for the Suckers population control as much as just as fun as catching a 5 pound Rainbow. If they did not somewhat control the population on Taney and its tributaries we would be just loaded with them and we really are to the extent that right now, the restricted zone has huge schools of 50 plus fish just swimming in pods.

Paddle fish are somewhat of a novelty and are snagged all over the United States even in the so called pristine western states such as Montana.

When I was a kid our guides out of the resort guided the Browns Bend area of Lake of the Ozarks for them. It was the first guide trip I ever took. To this day I hate the darn things. It is hot hard work jerking a set of triple hooks up and down the lake and getting hung up every 5 minutes.

Sometimes they pull when hooked, most often regardless of size they pretty much come in wiggling a bit like a log rolling in circles.

As far as table fare, the Sucker is prepared correctly is just flat the best fish sandwich you will ever eat. The paddle fish can be OK at best. Some call them fresh water halibut, but a better name would be fresh water mackerel, as they are extremely oily.

They are hard to clean and you pretty much waste about 2/3 of the fish with guts and red meat.

Still to each his own and I'm very glad we have these two alternative fish for people to enjoy.

Good Luck

[fishinwrench]

My tax dollars stock those fish and the MDC allows it, what is to look down on? I don't look down in ARigs or the Ned Rig, is that your "thing"?

No sir, I don't throw A-rigs or Ned rigs (not that I wouldn't).

I have been snagging twice in the past, caught one pushing 60# and several that were too short. None of them attempted to fight at all, it was like pulling in a big piece of drift wood.

I have also cleaned/cooked/eaten them, and find them no better than catfish.

Also caught a pretty big one on the fly rod once....so they CAN be caught other ways IF YOU JUST TRY. That one didn't fight much either yet still acted like it was gonna die after I released it. So they just aren't my thing.

By all means have fun with it if you want. I'm glad some enjoy them since they cost so friggin much to maintain.

[kazoobass]

I dont care about it either way. I grew uo fishing for salmon and steelhead on the great lakes and their tributaries. I believe they used to and maybe still do have certain times of the year and places you can snag salmon in Michigan. Not sure. I didn't like it around salmon because you could catch them without snagging. Only time I have ever intentionally snagged something I was 12 or 13 and we would snag 20-40 lb carp in a celery pond off the main river. Dont think it was legal butb I was a dumb kid.

Growing up on lake Michigan and have my own boat at age 14 was awesome. I won my first Derby when I was 15. I was a big kid with a deep voice and when I won they didn't want to pay me. But they didn't realize I knew and worked for many of the charter fisherman during tournaments. So it was either pay me or get beat up. I am sure I wasted that 800 bucks really fast.

[merc1997 Bo]

Got this email from MDC. 140 lbs.! You gotta be kidding me!

Richwoods angler catches state-record paddlefish

First paddlefish snagging trip provides angler with 140-pound, 9-ounce memorable catch.

BRANSON, Mo. – The first paddlefish snagging trip for Andy Belobraydic III will be one he’ll remember for the rest of his life.

The 33-year-old Richwoods resident turned an already successful day on Table Rock Lake into an unforgettable one by snagging a state-record

i like the part of explaining how the mdc raises paddle fish to stock in the lake. HEY MDC!!!! HOW ABOUT DOING THAT WITH BASS AND CRAPPIE!!! your own actions prove that stocking of fish works. how about helping out areas of the lake that are very short on bass and crappie with some stocking programs.

bo

[kazoobass]

So they stock those fish to be snagged? Does it pay for itself?

Michigan screwed up in the mid 90's by restocking from their own gene pool. Fish got smaller. Had to go back out and get them from the west coast. At least that was the story we were told back then. No internet to confirm it. But we saw a huge slump around that time.

[fishinwrench]

I dunno. I'd prefer they didn't go to diddling with our LM bass and crappie DNA, they might screw it up.

I would love to see a better hybrid/striper stocking program here on LO though.

MDC can't do anything in the thousands.....it has to be Millions with them.

[Hunter75]

I dont go snagging fo spoonbill, I prefer catching bass, walleye and crappie, but i dont see why people have to bash the spoonbillers. They are filter feeders and so trying to catch them with lures or bait is almost impossible. Snagging is truly the only to consistantly catch them. If snagging is not your cup of tea then dont do it, but you dont have to act like spoonbillers are criminals just because they prefer to catch them insted of bass or trout or crappie. The dams that created our beautiful bass and crappie filled lakes are the reason MDC has to stock spoonbill, they are a river fish and dont spawn well in lakes. We are blessed here in missouri to have the ability to hunt and fish for many different species and not one particular species is better than the other. Be happy and enjoy the pursuit of the species you prefer and let everyone else do the same.

[WettinLine]

I really wish the MDC would put tougher restrictions on the paddlefish, but not like OK. The question I have is why do guides get to make money off fish my tax dollars paid for? Do I get to walk in to public land and cut firewood? I watched these guides this last weekend hauling around six clients and dragging around limits of spoonbill, just makes me sick!

[Seth]

I really wish the MDC would put tougher restrictions on the paddlefish, but not like OK. The question I have is why do guides get to make money off fish my tax dollars paid for? Do I get to walk in to public land and cut firewood? I watched these guides this last weekend hauling around six clients and dragging around limits of spoonbill, just makes me sick!

I'd be fine with having Oklahoma like restrictions. I don't keep many of them and just enjoy catching them so I'd be perfectly fine with only being allowed to keep a couple fish a year and having to immediately release most of them. I know I'm the minority with that train of thought though as most folks go to catch fish to keep and eat. Most folks I know only get to snag a time or two during the season anyways. I'm able to go nearly every weekend so I don't have any pressure to keep every legal sized fish I caught even if I did eat a lot of them.

As for the paddlefish guiding thing, I can see your point but then again it's also really no different than guiding for any other species. Any trout guide on Taneycomo would fall under the same thing since trout are stocked in Taneycomo. If there were no dams constructed on the Osage River system, there wouldn't be a need to stock paddlefish. I'm not sure if the white river system had native paddlefish so I'm not sure if this also applies to Tablerock.