KEYSTONE LAKE — Now, that's a big catch!
The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation announced there's a new fishing record made in the state and the world. The agency tweeted a world and state-record catch of a 164-pound paddlefish happened on Tuesday.
American paddlefish are a primitive fish that inhabited North America since the Cretaceous period 65 million years ago. The American Paddlefish inhabits large, slow‐flowing, freshwater rivers such as the Mississippi River and its tributaries. Paddlefish are a long‐lived species.
The catch was made by Kansas-native Grant Rader at Keystone Lake.
We have a new WORLD- and state-record paddlefish that was snagged at Keystone Lake on Tuesday, June 22. The beast weighed 164 pounds! 😱 Congrats to Grant Rader (left) of Wichita, Kan., on his great catch! #FishinOK 🎣 pic.twitter.com/hBlRMv6XjY
— Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation (@OKWildlifeDept) June 23, 2021
ODOWC said in order to catch a paddlefish, a fisherman snags it without bait.
Paddlefish are primarily filter feeders so they don't need the typical bait other fish would need. In this case, Rader used a rod/reel with an 80-pound line and a barbless treble hook.
Anglers are required to obtain a free paddlefish permit before fishing for paddlefish in Oklahoma. The permit can be obtained by going to the online license system and select the purchase a new license or the "Get a Paddlefish Permit" option. Paddlefish not immediately released are considered kept and must be tagged immediately with the angler's paddlefish permit number.
If you catch a banded paddlefish you can keep the band if you harvest the fish. Please report the band when you e-check your harvest. Please do not remove bands from released fish, but you can report the catch and release of banded paddlefish here. Biologists use bands to estimate population abundance and annual harvest. Click here to learn more about banded paddlefish and the conservation effort.
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