April 8, 201214 yr I caught a rare spoonbill catfish (paddlefish) in the Cave Run Lake tailwaters last night. 48 1/2" long, 18.2 lbs. - caught on 6 lb. test line:
April 9, 201214 yr Those things are prehistoric and man, that is awesome. I wish I would have been there to see it. I've never caught one and I always heard them called a paddlefish or spoonbill, but never with the added "catfish" to their name. An old fisherman buddy of mine told me the state record was over 100 pounds, but I don't know if that is true or not. I bet it was a blast on light tackle bringing that dude in.
April 9, 201214 yr Some buddies of mine have them in their ponds. They drag them for caviar. Just doesn't seem right!
April 9, 201214 yr Author I didn't realize just how rare it was until I talked to a few people. I didn't even know what it was when it came out of the water. It was the coolest and weirdest fish I've ever seen I do believe. It wasn't slimy at all. It has no bones in it's body - all cartilage. This one was a male and was filled with sperm. It had a weird filtration system in its mouth unlike anything I've ever seen before (I'll post more pics in a minute). I have an entire one gallon ziplock bag full of meat from that one fish. It's white and flaky. Looks just like salmon but white.
April 9, 201214 yr Author Oh and it took a full half hour of hard fighting to get it to the net. Took 20 minutes before we even got a glimpse of it.
April 10, 201214 yr Used to catch them on trot lines in the ole Ohio River years ago. Definitely a wild fish. Never had the pleasure of catching on Rod and Reel. Congrats Wireman!
April 10, 201214 yr I didn't realize just how rare it was until I talked to a few people. I didn't even know what it was when it came out of the water. It was the coolest and weirdest fish I've ever seen I do believe. It wasn't slimy at all. It has no bones in it's body - all cartilage. This one was a male and was filled with sperm. It had a weird filtration system in its mouth unlike anything I've ever seen before (I'll post more pics in a minute). I have an entire one gallon ziplock bag full of meat from that one fish. It's white and flaky. Looks just like salmon but white. They're rare because they're pretty much 100% algae eaters, and because between the construction of dams and overharvesting, their numbers got down to dangerous levels a few decades back. Kentucky has had a paddlefish restoration program in place since the 70's if I'm not mistaken. Nice catch! Most folks who go out for paddlefish try for them with an oversized treble hook dragging along the riverbed. If you catch them on a lure, they generally only bit at it out of curiosity. Awesome catch, though!!
April 10, 201214 yr An old fisherman buddy of mine told me the state record was over 100 pounds, but I don't know if that is true or not. 106 pounds, caught on spinnerbait in the Ohio in 2004 down by Paducah. Broke the old record by 24 pounds. Some buddies of mine have them in their ponds. They drag them for caviar. Just doesn't seem right! There's actually a caviar company up in Bellevue or Dayton (I can't recall which) that harvests all of their caviar from paddlefish. They contract out lakes to stock for their crop.
April 11, 201214 yr I didn't realize just how rare it was until I talked to a few people. I didn't even know what it was when it came out of the water. It was the coolest and weirdest fish I've ever seen I do believe. It wasn't slimy at all. It has no bones in it's body - all cartilage. This one was a male and was filled with sperm. It had a weird filtration system in its mouth unlike anything I've ever seen before (I'll post more pics in a minute). I have an entire one gallon ziplock bag full of meat from that one fish. It's white and flaky. Looks just like salmon but white. Full of sperm huh? Gross...:lol:
April 11, 201214 yr Author Full of sperm huh? Gross...:lol: Let's just say that I'm not a marine biologist and there was no doubt about male/female. :thumb:
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.