New Arkansas record paddlefish caught in Beaver

[Quillback]

From AGFC:

ROGERS — Beaver Lake in Northwest Arkansas has a strong reputation for clear water and excellent bass, crappie and striper fishing, but a string of state records for paddlefish is beginning to put Beaver on the big fish map in regard to another species. Garfield resident and striped bass angler Mike Schleeper inked his name in the record books Saturday morning with a 127-pound, 6-ounce behemoth, squashing the previous state record of 118 pounds, caught by James Johnson in 2020.

Schleeper was trolling brooder minnows around 30 feet deep near Point 6 with his good friend and fishing partner Tom Mayberry when the catch occurred.

“I’ve been fishing for stripers up here for about 13 years, and I’ve had the chance to catch some stripers over 30 pounds, but this was different,” Schleeper said. “It didn’t strip line and stop in surges like big stripers do, he just sort of pulled the rod down and kept going. I couldn’t turn him so we had to follow him with the trolling motor for about the first 20 minutes.”