Paddlefishing

[WyoGreff]

We used to catch paddlefish in NoDak im aching to go catch one of these years just wondering if anyone here has caught one or fishes for them often? if anyone fishes them often whats the season for paddlefish in your area, i think its anywhere from 3-4 weeks in ND but im not positive.

[DoubleLung55]

They r here in PA , but i dont know what they eat , or how to fish for them , they r illegal to keep , and should be returned unharmed , so waht do you use for them , and how do you fish them , they r in the lake at my camps , in the deep water by the dam some get em , but i dunno what on or what ways?

[WyoGreff]

In ND you would snag them, you put a bottom bouncer with a hooke trailing 2-3 feet behind, they sell licenses for them in ND and its a fairly popular tag. This was in the missouri river so their may be other techniques to catching them.

[Handles]

I used to snag them occasionaly as a kid here in WI. We didn't have a season for them, still don't but fishing for northern/musky below the dam you would hook one once in awhile with a daredevil.
Unbelievable fight, but man are they weird looking. Glad to see that they are still illegal to catch, something that odd and rare really makes you think about what we have, and what our children will have.

[DoubleLung55]

HMM is that the only way to catch them is to snagg em? dont they eat some stuff?

[WyoGreff]

NO paddlefish are bottom feeders...
Young-of-year paddlefish will "bite" at small food particles, but eventually (within a year) switch to filtering for food as they grow and need more food. The young paddlefish are pale, nearly transparent, and swim in loose groups, preferring to feed on a large zooplankton called Leptodora kindtii (AFS website 2003).

When feeding, adult paddlefish swim with their mouths wide open and filter the zooplankton from the water with filament-like gill rakers. In some places, adult paddlefish also filter aquatic insects and, occasionally, tiny fish. Recent research has shown conclusively that the paddle is an electrosensory structure that functions much like an antenna. It detects weak electric fields. The paddle, head and gill flaps are covered with tiny sensory pores that it uses to detect food organisms. The paddle may also function to keep the fish level in the water while it is continually moving and feeding. The paddle would then provide "lift" much like airplane wings to keep the fish from nose-diving to the bottom (AFS website 2003).