Missouri Outdoor

The population of anglers that loyally pursue the elusive and oddly configured paddlefish is minimal, but don’t question the enthusiasm with which they hunt this prehistoric fish.

Wrapping themselves in layer upon layer of heavy clothing which adds to the considerable challenge of heaving treble hooks seemingly big enough to raise the Titanic that are weighted with anchor-sized lead sinkers. Paddlefish anglers come out in awful weather to spend hours laboriously jerking their lines through murky spring floodwaters without even being able to see the object of their quest.

The fire of their enthusiasm is stoked by the knowledge that somewhere “down there” could be a 130 pound fish with the tail of a shark and paddle-shaped nose. Diehard paddlefish anglers live for the shoulder-wrenching moment when such a fish blunders into a hook. When that happens, the angler is in for a long and tiring fight.

The payoff can be big, though. Like sharks, paddlefish have no bones. Instead, their skeleton is made of cartilage. A 100 pound paddlefish can yield 30 pounds of firm white flesh. It is a gourmet’s delight when cooked in a smoker.

Records kept by the Missouri Department of Conservation show that roughly 1.6 percent of Missouri anglers target paddlefish. This exclusive club has the run of thousands of acre of waters, but most paddlefish snagging takes place in well-defined areas.

The most popular places to snag paddlefish are the upper reaches of Lake of the Ozarks, Truman Lake and Table Rock Lake. The construction of dams has effectively eliminated natural reproduction of paddlefish in the Osage River Basin, but the big fish still swim upstream in the spring, when the spawning urge strikes them. They congregate below dams and in the upper arms of reservoirs, and knowledgeable anglers are usually there to greet them.

Paddlefish on the Mississippi River above St. Louis follow this pattern, gathering below locks and dams. On the Mississippi River below St. Louis and on the Missouri River, anglers find paddlefish behind wing dikes, where deep, slow-moving water creates attractive resting and feeding areas.

Source Missouri Game and Fish vol. 2008 no.3