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First Paddlefish!!!!

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#22 ·
We also call them spoonbill.I have snagged quite a few over the years.The limit used to be three and now it's one with a permit I believe.I also used to shoot them with my bow during the july season.That was a real blast.They are very good eating.My largest fish was a 45.5 pounder.
 
#23 ·
That there's a monster!

Hey Tanya...

I've never cooked one before but I've made a living cooking for the last 2o years or so.:wink:

My advice for fish that big and oily?
Cure it or brine it....like 2-3 days and than smoke it.

PM me if you'd like specifics but I gaurantee it'll be good that way.

Usually that big a freshwater fish with that diet will be nasty nearly anyway you slice it (no pun inteded:) ) but the cure and smoke overcomes all:tongue:
 
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#25 ·
I've never caught any paddlefish myself, but know a couple guys who spend as much time snagging as they do working. They travel around to tournaments, which from what I hear are more like competitions to see which boat can go through the most beer in one day.:darkbeer:
 
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#26 ·
here is a pic of me in the green shirt and my uncle

we snag them in grand river in oklahoma.


they are lots of fun and you are always sure to break a rod.

i tried to hook one on my bass rod and it just stripped all my line off and all i could do was just hold on
 

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#27 ·
Kelly Johnson said:
That there's a monster!

Hey Tanya...

I've never cooked one before but I've made a living cooking for the last 2o years or so.:wink:

My advice for fish that big and oily?
Cure it or brine it....like 2-3 days and than smoke it.

PM me if you'd like specifics but I gaurantee it'll be good that way.

Usually that big a freshwater fish with that diet will be nasty nearly anyway you slice it (no pun inteded:) ) but the cure and smoke overcomes all:tongue:
Click to expand...
No offense meant, but you couldn't be more wrong about spoonbill...if you don't cut away the red meat and the belly meat then it will leave a bad taste in your mouth. Kind of like deer fat and silver skin. I wish I had the time to do some snagging because I really miss eating this fish. Better than catfish, trout, or pike. I would consider spoonies second to crappie and walleye in flavor.

Paul

Paul
 
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#29 ·
I caught 2 Spoonbills about 8 years ago fishing in a creek near my house. They were about 3 lbs. each....nothing like as big as the pictures posted. The interesting thing about them is that there entire skeleton is made up of mostly cartiledge.

All the information on here so far says that they can only be caught by snagging. The 2 that I caugh were mouth hooked!:confused: I believe at the time I was fishing for Catfish and had chicken liver on the hook. Each one I brought in had the hook in its mouth and the line wrapped around its bill like it took the bait and then spun around tangling the line around its bill. I guess it is possible that it was swimming around with its mouth open and happened to inhale my hook.
 
#30 ·
Boil the white meat in cubes and dip in hot butter. It taste great. I have a tag to snag one again this year. In South Dakota you have to get into a drawing to snag one.
 
#32 ·
Years ago in the Delta country of the state of Mississippi they served boneless catfish sandwiches and I ate a lot of them. Translated a boneless catfish is actually a spoonbill. It has cartilage like a shark, no bones. You have been given good advice on how to clean them. These sandwiches simply consisted of a fried patty of boneless cat much like the fried fish sandwiches in many fast food places today only better. Yes many spoonbills were taken from the Tennessee river for their roe which was sold as caviar. Today they are protected due to overfishing for these eggs.
Dave Nowlin
 
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#36 ·
We snag them in several rivers around St. Louis. The have a season and a strict size limit 24" from the V in the tail to the body side of the snout... I have snagged 'fish?' that stripped my 90# test and drug my double anchored boat miles down the river!! All you can do is hold on!:wink:
 
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