Paddle Fish

[mattyk]

I was able to catch another paddle fish this morning. It was a real amazing fight. The big girl was returned back to fight another day. I was using a two inch storm crank bait. I also caught severl saugers, white bass, drum, and skip jack herring all in two hours of fishing.

 

[BLACKFISH88]

cool looking fish!! Hey where's the rest of the pictures????LOL...Kinda looks like a shark, bet the fight was awesome.

[bassmaster4]

thats a great fish wtg

[mepps]

Very nice, you dont see those very often!

[fishdawg]

neato

[motv8tr]

NICE fish!!! Wow, wish they had those up here, must be a blast to catch. You're very fortunate to have an opportunity to fish for so many different species in the same place.

 

Maureen

[tjsa]

Definately a different looking fish from what we have up here, thats for sure. Thanks for posting that picture.

[Joey]

Cool looking fish.

 

Looks cold there.

 

Joey

[Daplumma]

Sweet stuff,wish we had them here!

Joe

[b2kptbo]

That is one wild lookin fish, with the size of the tail fin it must give ya a good fight... Does it gots teeth???

[Rich Clemens]

Very cool indeed.

[crappiesteve]

Nice Paddlefish,they look as if they would give quite the fight,WTG. :thumbsup_anim

 

 

Steve

[mattyk]

I'm not sure if paddle fish have teeth

[mpt]

Nice fish Matty, I'm surprise you got it on a lure. They're called freshwater whales because they have baleen and just filter feed. Look down the throat and it will look like the fishes gills but it's the bal;een they use to feed on plankton. No teeth but still cute like Probert.

[Mike the Pike]

Nice looking chain saw Mattyk.

 

Thanks for the pic great to see something different.

 

MTP

[Tacklebuster]

what an awesome looking fish, thanks for posting.

[Greencoachdog]

A rare fish to catch on hook and line indeed!!!... and you deserve a dozen Gold Stars for turning them back Matty!!!

 

Here's a little info I found on the "web" about them, I hope you don't mind me postin' it here:

 

Paddlefish, spoonfish, spoonbill cat, and Polyodan spathula are among several names given to this unique prehistoric fish. The paddlefish is the largest (over 200 pounds, six-feet long) freshwater fish in the United States and is found in 26 states that have large streams, rivers, and impoundments within the Mississippi River basin and adjacent Gulf Coastal drainages.

 

Paddlefish are highly valued for its black eggs (roe) processed into caviar and its boneless, firm, white meat. However, they are currently available only from the wild populations. Overexploitation and contamination by organochlorine pollutants (i.e. PCB) have required that many state agencies close down this valuable fishery. Commercial paddlefish farming is necessary to meet the market demand for its caviar and meat and alleviate harvest pressure from the wild paddlefish fishery.

 

Paddlefish have many outstanding characteristics for aquacultural development as a food fish in Kentucky and other states of the United States. Paddlefish filter feed on zooplankton throughout life, are long-lived (greater than 20 years), and grow rapidly (up to 10 pounds per year) reaching sizes up to 200 pounds.

 

They can be harvested by selective gill nets or by seining. Paddlefish can be propagated artificially and fingerlings raised intensively up to 14 inches in ponds, then grown for meat and roe intensively in ponds with catfish or extensively in reservoirs. Paddlefish meat is firm and boneless with a beef or pork-like texture, and it is also similar to sturgeon in taste and texture.

 

Artificial Propagation

 

Currently, broodstock are obtained from wild sources. Typically, males are smaller (by one-third to one-half in weight) than females, and have tubercles on their head and opercular flaps that feel like sandpaper. In contrast, mature females have few, to no tubercles, and the abdomen is round and extended during the pre-spawning period.

 

Broodstock must be held in circular tanks (8 foot) in the hatchery. Water temperature of 60 to 65°F, flow rate of 2 gallon per minute and water saturated with oxygen are optimal conditions. Broodstock should be injected intraperitoneally with hormones to induce spawning. For milt collection, tubing attached to a syringe is inserted into the urogenital pore and collected from the fish.

 

Large volumes of milt can be obtained from one male. Milt from two to three males should be used to fertilize the eggs so as to increase genetic diversity. Milt is checked microscopically and 75-100% of the spermatozoa should be motile.

 

Milt can be collected several hours before use and stored in sealed containers on wet ice. For collection of eggs, any one of several methods can be used: hand-stripping, caesarian section, or the Minimally Invasive Surgical Technique, MIST.

 

Hand-stripping is labor intensive and often requires three individuals 8-10 hours at about 30-minute intervals to remove the total volume of eggs. Caesarian section is a relatively quick surgical method (30 minutes) to remove eggs through a 3-4 in abdominal incision; however, suturing is time consuming and muscular stress on the incision usually results in poor retention and less than 25% survival of broodstock.

 

The MIST is minimally invasive and permits quick removal of ovulated eggs and requires much less handling time than the other methods. This method of egg removal involves a small incision in the dorsal area of the oviduct which permits direct stripping of eggs (10 minute) from the body cavity through the gonopore, and bypasses the oviductal funnels.

 

Greater than 90% survival of broodstock is expected. The eggs should be fertilized using the "wet method". Milt is added to water at a 1:200 ratio (milt to water) and then immediately poured onto the eggs. The fertilized eggs are stirred for one minute then coated with Fuller’s earth suspension for 20 minutes.

 

The eggs are then rinsed free of Fuller’s earth, volumetrically measured and loaded into McDonald jars at about 70,000 eggs per 2-gallon incubator. Larvae hatch in approximately 6 days when eggs are incubated at 65° F. Larvae must be held for another 5 to 6 days before they will consume food.

 

Nursery Phase

 

Larvae can be grown in fertilized earthen ponds or in tanks. In ponds, live food such (Daphnia spp.) must be present in order for the paddlefish larvae to have appropriate food until they are large enough to accept extruded pellets. In tank culture, paddlefish larvae can be trained to feed only on prepared diets (i.e. RangenR Trout/Salmon diets).

 

For pond culture, site preparation should begin about two weeks before spawning. Ponds should be drained and dried. After fish have been spawned, the pond should be flooded with well water or from filtered reservoir water. Rice bran is recommended as the organic fertilizer for paddlefish nursery ponds to promote zooplankton i.e. (Daphnia).

 

Once the fish reach about 3.5 inches, they can be trained to eat a 1/16-inch extruded pellet (45% protein). Survival rates can range from about 50 to 80%. It takes approximately 6 weeks for the paddlefish to reach about 5 inches at which time they are able to filter feed.

 

If fish are trained on a prepared diet, they can remain in the ponds and will continue to grow up to 0.5 pounds and 14 inches in about six months.

[ccmtcanada]

WOW!!! What an awesome looking fish...I can only imagine the fight that thing put up for you. Amazing catch...amazing!

[mattyk]

Thanks for posting that info, very interesting. I know that they are an endangered species. I don’t think I have ever seen any body let them go here. I rarely keep any fish ever. Plus i would never keep a fish from the ohio river, a little on the dirty side. People rarley release fish here, and if they catch it, they end up keeping it. Lots of people snag for paddle fish and in Kentucky it is legal practice unfortunately. It would be nice if they closed this fishery off and stopped people from snagging this fish, but what do i know and who am i to judge. The fish that i caught in above picture was snagged in the bottom side of her head and then toward the end of the fight she rolled in the line. I was using 8lb line and it was quite the challenge getting her in in the strong current. I posted a picutre about a week ago of another paddle fish that i caught and that was caught on a 1.5 inch crappie jig hooked in the mouth.

[easton13th]

What a great opportunity to catch this fish! Way to go!

 

Easton

[Guest mistyriver1]

Great stuff Matt.

[solopaddler]

Another nice one! You're now officially the OFC Paddlefish master

[Puckhead]

That is a fantastic looking fish...