Striper fisherman break Arkansas spoonbill record

[T HAUS]

ROGERS -- The Curran family of Coose Hollow will be eating fish, lots of fish, after Michael Curran caught a 102-pound, 8-ounce paddlefish from Beaver Lake on Thursday to set a state record for the species.

Curran and his brother, Mark Curran of Oklahoma City, Okla., were trolling for striped bass in the Coose Hollow arm near Prairie Creek park when they hooked the record paddlefish around 1 p.m.

Also called "spoonbills," the paddlefish broke the former Arkansas record of 98 pounds, 8 ounces caught from the Ouachita River in July 1994.

The brothers were trolling chartreuse-colored size 9 Shad Rap lures on two fishing rods about 3 miles from the mouth of the 4-mile long Coose Hollow arm. Curran landed the 100-pound plus fish on 17-pound test Trilene fishing line spooled on a bait-casting reel.

Michael Curran saw his rod tip toward the water, but the paddlefish never bit. His lure snagged the paddlefish in the belly and the 45-minute fight was on.

Arkansas Game and Fish Commission fisheries biologist Ron Moore, who certified the catch, said it is illegal to snag paddlefish on purpose except during snagging seasons and in designated areas. Snagging one by accident is legal, he said.

Paddlefish feed on plankton and don't normally bite lures or bait.

The brothers had been trolling for striped bass for five days without so much as a strike. Michael Curran figured the fish was a trophy-sized striper.

"Mark had never caught a striper so I said, 'You want to reel in a great big fish?,' and he said 'No. I might lose it."

When the brute rolled in the water beside the boat, they saw the fish's bill and knew it was a paddlefish.

The fish wouldn't fit into the jumbo-sized net aboard their boat, so they wrestled it over the gunwale.

"I stuck my hand in the mouth and grabbed one side of his head," Mark Curran said. "He put his hand in its mouth and grabbed the other side of his head. It took both of us."

The anglers didn't have a clue they'd caught a state record. They took the fish to Michael Curran's lakeside home where his wife, Debbie, got a gander at it.

She called the Game and Fish regional fisheries office in Rogers to see if it could be a record. Biologists Ron Moore and Stephen Brown met the Currans at Anderson's Propane and Gas on U.S. 62 north of Rogers to weigh the fish on certified scales.

It measured 48 inches long from eye to the fork of the tail and had a girth of 45 inches.

Debbie Curran revealed the family's plans for the 102.5-pound fish.

"We're going to eat it. We've got a lot of big old boys at the house and I've got to feed them," she said. "We're going to try some of it tonight."

Having a taxidermist mount the state record fish is out of the question, Debbie said.

"We already have a deer on the wall. The only place we could hang it is in the bathroom and then you couldn't take a shower."

[taxidermist]

What a waste! A fish this big deserves to be mounted, how long did this fish live?

If its the meat I would give them twice the weight in catfish!!!

[Samkam1]

At least take some good pics/measurements and have a replica made.....they last longer and look better anyways :-)

[Dutch]

THAUS, are you doing any fishin' these days?

[T HAUS]

Not yet. Still got gobs of ice storm clean up to finish before the hay gets too high. Do I know ya Dutch?

[taxidermist]

There is not a replica of a spoonbill of this size. I know all the suppliers of blanks as we call them in the industry and so I ask by email and noone has one with this size.

Thats what is sad about eating a old huge fish like this, its now gone forever!!! Pictures is all that will be around.

Replicas are all molded off real fish, some are better than others due to the molders ability to mold the fish, the condition of the fish when received and some just plain don't have the skills of knowledge. They put fish in unnatural bends and positions.

Next comes the taxidermist skills, some dont know basic fish anatomy, so they also lack the skills to repair problems with the blanks and they dont know how to detail the blank.

Some blanks claim now extra work needed, but they all need work!!! It's no extra work required for the beginner.

Over the years I have made many molds to reproduce fish for certain fish species. I don;t get rushed, I either do it right or don't do it!! I sell these molds to some of the big suppliers, reason is they dont get cold water fish, I have some of my personal molds off big browns and admit over the years my skills in molding have improved.

I have even instructed seminars at the WORLD TAXIDERMY CHAMPIONSHIPS, that's a heck of an honor for any taxidermist.

So with this little bit of information now you see why I feel it's a terrible shame to waste a SPOONBILL of this size.

I could take a blank and cut, add and rework it to those size measurments but its not the same.

I called made an offer of 300lbs of catfish fillets and they said they had already cleaned it.

If its a big fish its a terrible thing to just cut it up. Look at George Perry's Largemouth BASS!!!

Tight Lines

John