Spoonbill / Paddlefish.....Got me one!

[The70RT]

Got me one last weekend in Oklahoma.

[Charger1973]

When I was only about 10 years old, I lived right where the St Croix and Mississippi rivers meet and was out there swimming every day.  I forgot about it til just now but people used to say those were in the water and it freaked me out.  I have never seen one before but I expected it to be alot bigger.  Do you have any more pics? 

[The70RT]

When I was only about 10 years old, I lived right where the St Croix and Mississippi rivers meet and was out there swimming every day.  I forgot about it til just now but people used to say those were in the water and it freaked me out.  I have never seen one before but I expected it to be alot bigger.  Do you have any more pics? 

I was hopping for a bigger one but it was the only one I got. That is small comparably.  No I just got this pic with a camera phone.....then it succumbed to the knife.

[bordin34]

That is one weird looking fish. Are they freshwater?

[The70RT]

That is one weird looking fish. Are they freshwater?

Yep. They are in most major rivers and some resivoirs in the midwest. The species go back like 300 million years

[4cruzin]

And you eat that??   

[The70RT]

Hell yeah.....It taste like more like chicken than fish with a firm shark like texture

[472 R/T SE]

That was my next question, what does it taste like?  How's the meat, boney, clean?  How do you cook it?

Prolly like everything else I've forgotten, but I don't ever remember hearing about those in my days back there.

[The70RT]

That was my next question, what does it taste like?  How's the meat, boney, clean?  How do you cook it?

Prolly like everything else I've forgotten, but I don't ever remember hearing about those in my days back there.

It has a shark like structure and features. The meat looks just like shark / swordfish.  No bones, just carteledge. There is red meat and white meat. You only eat the white meat. They are mostly abundant it the neosho valley in OK.

[41husk]

we used to catch a fish here called a Gar.  It's head looked like a gator.  Pretty scary to see when we were kids.  I wish I had some pics,  Has anyone caught any of those.

[The70RT]

Yep i got one last weekend when I got this one. I was fishing for white bass and got it on a jig. My little girl got it on video on her phone. It was like 3ft. long. I got the head on the bank and as I approached it gave one last effort and flipped off. Their pretty scary if your going to beach one by hand. Like wise that was a smaller one. Those things get huge.

[skip68]

Do they bite? (You know, if your swimming in that water, or are they timid?)  Scary looking fish!!!! I gotta show my son that pic!!!

Mrs.Skip68

[The70RT]

They eat plankton mostly thats why you have to snag them. They have no teeth and are pretty much harmless.

[bull]

Sounds like sturgeon.

[lumpy]

I Googled it ...

[Charger1973]

I Googled it ...

DAMN from the looks of it, it takes a Sawzall to fillet one of those things.   

[The70RT]

That's a big alligator gar. Not too many people eat those monsters.

[41husk]

most people don't eat gar, they are very bony comparable to carp.  Man they are ugly though!

[The70RT]

Canadians have the different toothy critters....AKA Musky. I cant imagine that thing making one last desperate flop with the kid holding it....looks like 50-60 pounder to me.

[73-charger-383]

that's just a HUGE northern.......that dude caught it in Holland.........muskies are light with dark markings, northerns are dark with light markings......other than that, they are pretty much identicle.........we've got a few muskie around here (northern MN), but not many.

[The70RT]

that's just a HUGE northern.......that dude caught it in Holland.........muskies are light with dark markings, northerns are dark with light markings......other than that, they are pretty much identicle.........we've got a few muskie around here (northern MN), but not many.

I got it in a forward. We used to have northern stocked in Kansas. Too warm they all died out. I guess i just never seen one that big. In MN what happened to the Musky? Years ago I thought they were abundant?

[jgbailey57]

looks kinda skinny compared to the one i got a couple years ago.  i go every year in march at osceola, mo.

[The70RT]

looks kinda skinny compared to the one i got a couple years ago.  i go every year in march at osceola, mo.

Nice one. I got mine after spawning so i guess it lost a lot. I did catch one a couple years ago after the spawn and it was twice as thick

[jgbailey57]

yeah that makes sense, i go when they're spawning so i don't see many fish that are skinny.  i'd still like to land a 70+ pounder, my largest so far is 59, it was my first fish.  i usually average around 40 pounders.  i got to help with a 65 this year, but it wasn't on my pole so it didn't count.  last year we got into alot of gar, those things are scary.  one was over 4' long.

[Mudhawg]

I went 2 years ago around Osceola, Mo. Caught 7 kept 6 they averaged 50lbs. Biggest was 72.  Went this year and the water was too cold and they were still down stream.  I think we kept 2 small spoonbill about 40lbs a apiece.  Its a good time

[jgbailey57]

yeah it was pretty rough this year, we went a few miles down river around horseshoe bend and caught 2 real early in the morning, the rest of the day we just burned gas and watched everybody else do the same.

[Mudhawg]

we put in at talley bend and went up river towards osceola opening weekend.  went about 2 miles above the brown ford bridge there.  snagged saturday and sunday.  my brother went a couple times later in the week and did pretty good.  he went around horseshoe bend down towards osceola and and i think he caught 4 or 5 down there 50-70 lb range.  he's a bastard

[The70RT]

we put in at talley bend and went up river towards osceola opening weekend.  went about 2 miles above the brown ford bridge there.  snagged saturday and sunday.  my brother went a couple times later in the week and did pretty good.  he went around horseshoe bend down towards osceola and and i think he caught 4 or 5 down there 50-70 lb range.  he's a bastard

Where is osceola? I know i seen the sign as I am sure I passed through since I usually get a OK, MO, AR, and KS license every year. I usually fish the springfield area a few times a year when doing bizz down there.

[jgbailey57]

on 13 hwy, about an hour north of springfield.  the osage river goes into truman lake.

[The70RT]

Cool. Thanks. I will have to check it out next year.