SHARK BRIDGE IN OKLAHOMA SKIN
Resembling a shark, it has smooth skin and a skeleton mostly of cartilage.Ī long paddle-like blade, called a rostrum, extends forward from the fish’s head. The paddlefish is a primitive species, with a fossil record dating to the age of the dinosaurs about 75 million years ago. The largest American paddlefish on record, taken by a spearfisherman in Iowa in 1916, reportedly weighed 198 pounds. 14, Justin Hamlin of Kellyville boated a paddlefish that unofficially weighed 157 pounds, but the fish had to be immediately released because it was caught on a "no harvest" day as set in state regulations. On May 23, Mefford himself hauled in a 143-pound paddlefish at Keystone, setting a new state record but missing the then-world record by just a pound. On June 28, James Lukehart of Edmond snagged a world-record-setting 146.7-pound paddlefish, also while fishing with Mefford. This record fish is just the latest in a string of actual or would-be record-setting paddlefish snagged at Keystone this year: Watters’ paddlefish will become the officially recognized rod-and-reel world record for the species when it is entered in scientific journals by ODWC biologists. Wish I could have been there so we could have a pic with the last two people to touch that fish - 23 years apart!" Great story all the way around in a time when we need great stories. "What made my day is hearing his son was with him today. It was common to set nets across the river channels. The fish most likely came from a net we set between the Jellystone Launch and the Keystone Marina north of the (State Highway) 51 bridge. "I was the last person to handle that fish about 14 years before your son was born! This was part of my grad research at OSU. On ODWC's Facebook page, Paukert shared some details with Watters. “This made my day! So, I guess this means that I caught the world-record paddlefish, but I didn’t realize it until 23 years later!”
Paukert told Brown, “It’s possible you may have tagged this fish while working with me way back when!” When Paukert heard the news, he contacted Brown. Wildlife Department Paddlefish Coordinator Brandon Brown participated in Paukert’s paddlefish banding efforts in the mid-1990s at Keystone Lake. So this world-record fish is about 25 years old! When banded, this fish was about 2 years old, weighed 7.7 pounds and was about 2 feet long. Records indicate the fish was caught and banded in the Salt Creek arm of Keystone Lake on Jan. Later, a follow-up call to Oklahoma State University turned up information that the paddlefish was indeed part of research efforts by Craig Paukert, then a graduate student and currently a professor at the University of Missouri. It was a perfect release,” Watters wrote.īrennan confirmed that upon its release, the fish was followed using Live Scope sonar and it appeared to be healthy and swimming well. Other than that, we kept the fish moving in the water. “We only had the fish out of the water for the shortest time possible, about three minutes total. 667, was in poor condition and was collected by ODWC, then the fish was released in good shape. Once the fish was officially weighed, Brennan examined the band and “noticed it wasn’t one of our bands. What’s more, the paddlefish had been caught in the past - as part of a research project. Bonus having the son there to witness this day. “I'm excited and blessed to catch a fish this big. Watters wasted no time sharing his accomplishment on social media. (The standard scientific method of measuring a paddlefish’s length is the distance from the eye to the fork of the tail.) “It weighed 151.9 pounds, had a total length of 71.5 inches, and eye-to-fork length of 54.75 inches,” Brennan said. Once there, they began measuring the monster. Mefford called Fisheries Division staff about 10:20 a.m., saying he believed his client had just broken the current world and state paddlefish record.įisheries staff rushed to meet the angler at Keystone Lake. Not only did the fish prove to be the new world record for the species, but it also had a very interesting backstory to tell, said Eric Brennan, Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation Northeast Region Fisheries technician. He and his son Stetson, 9, were fishing as clients of guide Jeremiah Mefford of Reel Good Time Guide Service. A new world-record paddlefish has again been pulled from Keystone Lake near Tulsa, less than a month after the previous world record was snagged in the same lake by a client of the same fishing guide.Īngler Cory James Watters of Ochelata is the newest owner of the rod-and-reel world-record title, after snagging a 151-pound, 14.4-ounce giant Thursday morning.
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