Paddlefish fishing
Paddlefish fishing uses a Large barbless treble hook, bank sweep-cast or a No bait, bare hook on 30 to 100 lb line and an extra-heavy, 8 to 14 foot rod paired with a spinning or casting reel built for repeated hard sweeps and hooksets. South Dakota's Missouri River reservoirs (Lake Sharpe, Lake Francis Case) rely partly on hatchery stocking: the U.
Polyodon spathula. Long, paddle or spoon-shaped snout (rostrum) that can reach nearly a third of the fish's total body length.
Identification
- Long, paddle or spoon-shaped snout (rostrum) that can reach nearly a third of the fish's total body length.
- Smooth, scaleless skin, unlike the bony plates (scutes) covering a sturgeon, the other big fish sharing these reservoirs.
- Deeply forked, shark-like (heterocercal) tail fin.
- Wide mouth that gapes fully open while feeding and has no teeth, unlike a sturgeon's small sucking mouth.
- Small, laterally placed eyes; bluish gray to blackish back grading to a white belly.
Top lures
- Large barbless treble hook, bank sweep-cast (jig ): Cast cross-stream, swept side to side with the rod tip, reeling up slack between sweeps; never bitten, only hooked.
- Same rig, anchored and worked from a boat (jig ): Anchored over a tailwater hole or gravel-bar channel and worked with the same repeated sweep-and-reel motion.
- Same rig, trolled in an S-pattern (jig ): Dragged behind a slow boat in an S-shaped path, weight held off bottom or suspended at the depth fish are holding.
Top baits
- No bait, bare hook: No natural or artificial bait is attached; a paddlefish's diet is microscopic plankton, so the bare hook itself is the entire rig.
- Casting weight ahead of the hook: A 2 to 8 ounce casting weight rigged ahead of the hook adds enough weight to cast cross-stream and sink to the depth fish are holding.
Line & tackle
- Line: 30–100 lb
- Rod power: Extra-heavy, 8 to 14 foot rod paired with a spinning or casting reel built for repeated hard sweeps and hooksets
- Hook sizes: Large barbless treble hooks, roughly size 8/0 to 14/0
Stocked behavior
South Dakota's Missouri River reservoirs (Lake Sharpe, Lake Francis Case) rely partly on hatchery stocking: the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Gavins Point hatchery rears American paddlefish stocked into the Missouri River. Fingerlings filter-feed immediately, not at a catchable size, and given the species' slow growth and long lifespan, reaching a size anglers target takes many growing seasons.
Common mistakes
- Waiting to feel a bite before setting the hook, paddlefish never strike, the hookset comes from the angler's own sweeping motion.
- Spooling up with line lighter than the roughly 30 to 100 pound test the fight and hookset on a treble this size actually call for.
- Sweeping the rod within about 20 feet of the bank, a real safety concern anglers are warned against when bank-casting a rig this heavy.
State records
| State | Weight | Angler | Water | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kentucky | 106.00 lbs | William Chumbler Calvert City, KY | Ohio River | 2004 |
| Montana | 142.5 lbs. | Larry Branstetter | Missouri River Near Kipp Park | 1973 |
Sources: Kentucky's official record page , Montana's official record page .
Best time to fish Paddlefish
Computed from every real stocking date on record, not a general seasonal guess.
South Dakota
Most commonly stocked in September in South Dakota, based on 57 stocking events on record.
Where it's stocked
2 locations shown. Click a pin for details.