Yo Mitschke, when is the best time to go snagging for the prehistoric paddlefish...when i first moved up to Tulsa (Pre-wife/kids) my dad and I went out 412 like you are heading to Fayettevill, AR and we had my little 14ft flat and we put in one the river right before you get on the turnpike (cherokee) heading to AR. It's the far upper end of Fort Gibson lake. We were trolling and catching the shiat out of the sand bass...but everybody else were fishing/snagging with HUGE salt water looking rigs. We pulled up next to some folks that had their limit...of paddlefish. Craziest looking things...I just read in the paper that you can take the fish and they will clean them if you let them keep the eggs. Enlighten me on of all this. I'm going to have my boat here in tulsa until the end of april...let's hook up and do some paddlefishing.
Woody

Had some luck below the dams a few years back snagging, be sure and check the regs though, there is a min distance you gotta be from the dam. Also, the area of keystone where the mouth of the cim comes in (same area as the big mud flat), they've been snaggin off the bank by hwy 48 bridge on the river and right under the bridge. Good Luck

The water temperature and the water level has alot to do with it. We were out there last thursday and where we normally catch them they weren't in there. Give it a couple more weeks and i can take you out there and we can catch all of the fish you would like to.

There are alot of yaywhos that fish out there during the day, and it gets so dang crowded its not even fun. So we normally catch the sandies during the afternoon, and then when the sun starts going down, and boats start going back to the ramp, we go to our spot and we dont have any problems with casting, boats getting too close or any of that jazz.

As far as the limit goes... I think the reason they got so strict with the regulations on these fish, is because there were a bunch of backwoods hillbillies catching a ton of fish, cutting them open and taking the eggs. Caviare.... Thats all they were after. Supposedly they were exporting the caviare to russia, and selling it to people in NYC. This was an investigation that took place over a couple of years. In the end, the people behind the scheme made hundreds of thousands of dollars.

So if your on the water and green jeans rolls up in a Blue Wave, he will ask for the fish you have kept and he will clean the fish for you, give you the meat, and "dispose of the carcass properly". AKA clean the carcass of all of its eggs, then sell them to the people who were buying them in NYC and Russia.

I dont keep any fish, we catch one, get in in the boat, weigh it, check for bands (yes they band them in the lips) take a picture and toss its ass back in the water.

Thats about all i have.

Kurtis, PM me your number and i will give you a holler when the fish start running!

A buddy of mine has been catching a few already, but says they are not quite in yet. Like Mits said, a few more weeks and it should get crazy.

Tulsa,,,,,,,,you mitcsheksy dating now?

Don't worry River, I ain't cheat'n on ya...










Yet.
Woody

Mitschke I got me a bander yesterday. Guys do yourself a favor and leave those paddlefish alone.

Randy, you caught one with a band?

Show nuff!

Ill be damned....

I caught one 2 years ago.... Well i say that.

My buddy just pulled my fish in, and we weighted it, and it was a fairly good size fish. Well all of the sudden he starts to throw it back and i said wait!!! And he stopped and i said check it for a band. He told me i was full of it, and that they didnt band spoonbill. Sure enough, i picked him up, checked his lip, and sure enough he had a gaping hole right through the bottom lip. Someone else caught it before me.....

I got mine hanging with my waterfowl bands. Pretty cool

Randy, what did you do with the fish...did you clean it yourself? I've read that around here the F&W has a program that they will totally clean it for you if you let them have the eggs. And i thought i read that there was a certain way to clean them. Is the meat good? Can you grill it, or does it need to be fried? Do you keep the roe? I got to get me one of these...you hearing this Mitschke??????and Swamplord?????
Woody

Never brought one home.... Never cooked one. Heard they were excellent though. My next trip out i am bringing some fillets home for someone that is less fortunate in another state......

Anyways. Like i said in my first post, if the fish police are on the water... Then they will clean the fish for you. Cause they end up with the carcass and the eggs.

We sell the roe/meat here. The pf are very tasty and excellent fried in a deep fryer. Never had grilled pf before but I would say it would be good. You need a comm fishing license here to possess a pf which I have.
You can clean them by chopping off the tail and the head. Make a cut about a inch up from the tail cut off and grab the tendon/spin and pull up and out. Now you have a boneless fish. Chop with a cleaver into steaks and remove the skin and red flesh. Boom you now have a boneless nice piece of meat. You can also filet it out and shave the red off and have a nice filet to cut across the grain into 3/4 slices ready to cook.