The shopper had by no means seen a paddlefish earlier than, and did not know what it was
Chad Williams (second from proper) will get some assist from household and mates to carry up the world-record paddlefish he caught in Missouri. {Photograph} courtesy Jason Smith
Chad Williams of Olathe, Kansas, would possibly by no means be capable to high his first day fishing for paddlefish. On March 17, Williams went on a guided journey with 5 different family and friends members on Missouri’s Lake of the Ozarks, the place the group caught a number of huge fish in the course of the opening weekend of the state’s snagging season. The paddlefish that Williams landed weighed greater than 164 kilos, breaking each the state and world information for the species, based on a press launch from the Missouri Division of Conservation.
“I’d by no means been snagging earlier than,” Williams mentioned. “By no means seen a paddlefish — didn’t even know what it was!”
Jason Smith, the fishing information who put Williams on the world-record paddlefish, says they snagged the huge, prehistoric fish solely 90 minutes into the journey. It was their second fish of the morning.
“We had been trolling double treble hook snag rigs down about 30 toes in 55 toes of water when Chad hooked his fish,” Smith tells Outside Life. “We had been beneath the 60 Mile Marker lake space.”
He says it took Williams about 10 minutes to get the paddlefish to the facet of the boat. Smith and his mate Eric Leech then gaffed the fish and hauled it into their boat.
“Chad knew it was enormous, however he had by no means seen a paddlefish, and by no means had fished a lot in any respect,” Smith says. “He didn’t understand what he’d accomplished.”
Smith had a reasonably good concept that his shopper had landed a report breaker. However the fishing was glorious, he says, so that they saved on trolling and reeling in paddlefish.
“We caught a couple of dozen fish, and saved seven huge ones,” Smith says. “We had a 90-pounder, an 80-pounder, one other couple of 70s — all enormous paddlefish. However all of them appeared like minnows in comparison with Chad’s big.”
After quitting for the day, they loaded up the large paddlefish and went to the close by city of Montreal to weigh it on the licensed scales at Three Brothers Meat Firm. The fish weighed 164 kilos 13 ounces, which was simply sufficient to beat out the present world report of 164 kilos even, based on the MDC. (The Worldwide Recreation Fish Affiliation doesn’t acknowledge snagged fish as potential information, so Williams’ fish doesn’t qualify for an IGFA all-tackle world report.) The fish additionally outweighed the standing Missouri state report by greater than 24 kilos, and it’s been licensed in Missouri’s “different strategies” class, versus the normal pole-and-line class.
Learn Subsequent: How To Catch Big Paddlefish with Big Hooks
MDC studies that Williams saved the meat for his household and shared some with mates. He plans to have a taxidermist mount the report paddlefish.
Paddlefish are an uncommon and prehistoric species recognized for his or her lengthy, paddle-like rostrums (also called “payments”). As a result of these fish feed completely on plankton, they don’t strike baits or lures, and most anglers catch them by snagging them with giant treble hooks. They’re prized for his or her good-eating filets and engaging roe.
Smith shared his go-to snagging rig with Outside Life, which incorporates an in-line trolling system often called a Dipsy Diver. He says he normally fishes these rigs on 80-pound braid.
“I tie the Dipsy Diver to a line finish, and rig one hook two toes above it, and a second hook about eight toes above it,” Smith explains. “Dipsy’s are previous salmon trolling units that we’ve discovered to make use of right here to take snag hooks down, and we troll with them utilizing bait-casting deal with.”
Missouri holds a roughly six-week-long snagging season for these freshwater giants each spring, and Smith says his season is off to a roaring begin — particularly with Williams’ world report making the information.
“This can be a dream come true for me,” Smith says. “I won’t have been in a position to be the one reeling within the fish, however it’s simply as fulfilling figuring out I used to be in a position to put him on this world report.”
