Paddlefish have a fighting side, like to be free

STATE # 14 - OKLAHOMA MARCH 2018 - NEOSHA RIVER-FORT GIBSON LAKE

SPECIES CAUGHT - Paddlefish, White Bass

While researching fishing in Oklahoma I noticed Muskogee on the map near where my fishing interest was. That name only meant one thing to me until this fishing trip and that’s Merle Haggard’s 1969 # 1 hit Okie From Muskogee. So after booking two days of fishing with Billy Genay/Billy’s Guide Service, I prepared for my trip in honor of Merle by making sure my hair was not long and shaggy like a San Francisco hippie.

I arrived at the Mazie Landing Marina a half hour early about 12:30 to see an electrical storm that I had been outrunning all morning finally catch up with me a few minutes later. I went in the bait shop/cafe by the marina and visited with the owner a bit. He smiled when I asked him what kind of bait a Paddlefish liked. He then educated me that I would be snagging for them as bait don’t conform to these prehistoric looking creatures.

The Paddlefish AKA Spoonbill has a huge mouth and large gill openings. To eat he cruises along with his mouth open like a live vacuum sucking in water straining the zooplankton out of it discharging the water out the side openings. So this fish that looks like something in a science fiction movie is in fact a living vacuum cleaner cleaning millions of these things from the water to earn his keep in the ecosystem.

The electrical part of the storm phased out by the time Billy, along with his retired friend Tom Woolsey, met me for our 1 p.m. appointment. We left the marina in a light rain cruising down the channel where a half submerged SUV had slid in.

I looked at them and told them no explanation is needed as I have friends in Texas who park the same way while pitching too much woo after too much White Lightning.

Billy’s 24’ Sea-Ark boat had a windshield and a removable rollback top that kept most of the rain off us that would be off and on throughout the afternoon and evening. After the first stop brought up nothing Billy moved to another and after a few minutes I snagged my first one. Other than two of them back to back, each one of these big oversize strainers came about 30 minutes apart. This unfolded like a fight between heavyweights with a 30 minute rest between all but the one round that I was tagged teamed in overtime on.

I felt right at home with these guys that were both friendly, easy going, extremely helpful, and like minded with me who both knew this river reservoir and my target fish very well. The gap between my catches of seven of these big fish made for a very enjoyable balance of visiting and fishing.

I had to throw them all back because it was Monday. Oklahoma law prohibits the taking of any Paddlefish on Mondays and Fridays.

The other days allow one per person. Well, I have now found somebody who appreciates Mondays as much as Fridays - the Paddlefish.

Once hooked, my catch rate was 100%. I guess because of the way they roll when hooked, catching the string back in the huge treble hook that was barbless by design and that design required by law. They are caught pretty sound at that point if you keep the line tight but man they have the torque and power. If you give them any slack they will run like somebody that burned their draft card on Main Street in Muskogee. Hooking them in the side with the line wrapped around them is like harnessing them giving them lots of leverage to pull from rolling or running.

Now I know how Haggard came up with some of his lyrics. No need to trip on LSD when you can charter a trip for these wild behaving fish who like being free. Before releasing them we gave most of them a weigh. The heaviest one came in at 47 pounds and the lightest just below 30. That 47 pounds is still the biggest of my freshwater catches. It was a lot of fun and an upper body workout to get each one of these big suckers in the boat. On account of all seven of them demonstrating their fighting side to me my right shoulder, elbow, and wrist that I hurt in an accident in 2009 was sore.

I was thankful Tom was with us. Fish that size are hard to handle flopping around wrapped in fishing line and treble hooked in the side. Both of them there taking care of that kept me from having to wrestle each one of them down to unhook. While fishing they explained that these fish are best to eat if smoked. These fish have a skeleton made of cartilage instead of bones. Billy explained one of these big things can be cleaned almost as fast as filleting a small fish by just stripping the meat away from the spinal cord. I didn’t know until fact gathering while writing this article that this homely fish that does all the dirty work of cleaning the lake also produces caviar. Sometimes the workers who are at the bottom produces the highest quality work.

When we called it a day I drove to Muskogee and got some bar-b-q and then checked in to the Comfort Inn. While standing at the counter I saw a trail of ants that were headed to the little glass warming case full of chocolate chip cookies. The woman apologized about the ants. I said, no problem because they don’t stand a chance in beating me to those cookies. So I got me a handful before turning in. Before I went to bed I remember thinking on getting my Paddlefish keeper for Tuesday. I thought, as easy as it was hooking them seven today it won’t be a problem.

I woke to the sound of a flood on Tuesday morning. Man it was pouring down coming a soaky in Muskogee. I got some hotel breakfast and coffee to go without having to fight any ants, then me and Billy hit the water again without Tom this time. The water also hit us on this day. The plan was to get my one keeper and then swap targets to catch some White Bass. It never stopped raining and the Spoonbills never showed up where they were supposed to be. Somebody must have told them it was Tuesday. We gave up after a few hours and I caught a couple White Bass and then called it a day at noon.

Battling the Spoonbills one day and the weather the next made the trip unforgettable. The comfort of fishing with like minded guys that cared and worked hard to see things complete in chartered services was appreciated very much by me. Billy guides for Paddlefish, White Bass, Wipers, Stripers, and Catfish. He offers his services in the Grand Splash Neosha River, Ft. Gibson Lake, Keystone Lake, Grand Lake, and Hudson Lake. He is on Facebook at Billy Genay and at Billy’s Guide Service LLC. His services are also listed online with www.fishingbooker.com. Thanks Billy and Tom, I enjoyed chapter 14 of Fishing America in Ft. Gibson Lake with y’all.