Kentucky angler Chris Key was trolling and casting during a leisurely fishing day on Kentucky’s Cumberland River.
“We were floating down the river, sometimes casting, sometimes trolling,” Key told Wired2fish. “I was using a crankbait with 30-pound braided line and a 20-pound-test leader, when my plug hit something. I set the hook and I thought I’d latched onto the state record striped bass.”
Nearly an hour later Key brought the fish in and saw that it was a huge paddlefish, or “spoonbill,” an odd-looking and relatively rare catch today in Kentucky.
“I couldn’t believe it was a paddlefish, and I was elated to catch one,” said the Campbellsville, Kentucky resident. “I hooked it on the side of the mouth, so I’m guessing it was swimming with its mouth open, because I know they don’t eat lures. They’re almost always snagged by fishermen when they catch one.”
A Struggle to Release
Key took a few photos of the fish, then struggled to unhook the heavyweight paddlefish so he could release it.
“Paddlefish must have been spawning at the time, because she was so full of eggs they were coming out of her while I was trying to unhook and release her.”
Key finally got his crankbait’s hooks free from the fish and released it back into the Cumberland River.
“She swam away completely unscathed,” he said.
About Kentucky’s Paddlefish
Paddlefish are not an everyday catch in Kentucky, and biologists consider them perhaps the most unique fish in the state. Kentucky has a two-fish limit on paddlefish, with no size limit. Virtually all fish caught are snagged because they are plankton feeders.
They have a massive, wide mouth and specialized gills for filtering water and eating zooplankton. Their paddle is very sensitive and aids the fish in locating food.
The Kentucky record paddlefish weighed 106 pounds, caught in 2004 by angler William Chumbler from the Ohio River. Spoonbills have the ability to grow to seven feet in length and weigh 200 pounds. Because of paddlefish population decline, some states consider them as threatened or endangered.
While rare now, paddlefish were common in Kentucky rivers many years ago. Then, dam and reservoir building adversely impacted the fish. Today they’re chiefly found in the main channels of Kentucky’s largest rivers, including the Ohio. Dam removal in recent years and modern fishery management are helping improve the state’s spoonbill numbers, say state biologists.
Paddlefish are an ancient fish species, with a shark-like skin and a cartilaginous skeleton. In some regions paddlefish are considered a food delicacy, and their roe is prized by anglers who target them.
