Here is a 40 lb. spoonbill my wife caught and a 50 lb. spoonbill that I caught...









There were 16 "steaks" like the 2 on the right...



After all the steaks were cut into frying size chunks, there were 3 layers of meat in the cooler, with ice placed between each layer and then ice on top. I don't know why my camera makes the meat look red but, it is actually the same color as fresh chicken breast...



Here is another picture of our fish that Randy was good enough to hold up, so we could get another picture of our fish. Thank you Randy!

awesome. what family of fish do they belong to?
they sure look tasty.

When I saw "spoonbill" I was thinking bird. Nice catch!

Elvis wrote:

awesome. what family of fish do they belong to? they sure look tasty.

All my life, I have heard them referred to a "spoonbill catfish". So what exact family they belong too, I cannot give you an honest answer. I may just have to google it and see what I can find out...

Tasty? You're not kidding! This is some good eating...

There are no bones in these fish - only cartilage....

no cartilage sounds like a shark.

Is that a tag on the spoonbills' spoon? Those things must put up a fight, they're awfully big. What sort of bait do you use to catch one, they are filter feeders and a regular lure wouldn't work? (was just reading about them)

massive treble hooks on the rods... looks like a bait must be used unless the are jagging!!!!!

They are called paddlefish The bigest that Ive caught was 139 lbs in 1964 and they do put up a good fight.

Looks like they're goin the way of the Dodo bird, they're not legal keepers in lots of places, course the sturgeon is that way too. (was reading again) Jigging (or jagging if you're Elvis) for them seems to be the ticket, you must have to use a fish-finder to figure out where they are (that would be a pretty big blip on the screen). A Google search got me this;

Cast the hook to the far side of large river channel. Allow the hook to sink for a few seconds and then pull the pole forcefully across your body, jerking the hook through the water. Bring the pole back to the front of your body and reel in the slack of the line. Continue the jerking retrieve all the way across the river channel.

It's more of a snag method of catching them. They spawn in river channels and the fishing season for them seems to be during their spawning.

I went sturgeon fishing once and it was so much of a chore to catch one it wasn't any fun at all (to me). It's like having a VW bug on the end of the line and it's winning the war, you have to tire them out (I tired first). I guess if you have the strength, or a lot of buddies to help, it's fun, but for me it may as well be a house you're tied to and it aint movin. We hooked into 3 of them (lasted until I got seasick) and none of them were keepers, they weren't within the limits, but what a dissappointment after all that work.

I think a gun
would work
better
Suz

Hi Suz,

we did "snag" these fish, as this is the only way to catch them...

We actually trolled for these fish using 10/0 treble hooks, 3 lb. sinkers, 6 1/2 ft. shark fishing rods and 150 lb. braided line. We would let out 280-350 ft. of line and troll the edge of river channels. All fish were caught at a depth of 60 ft...

Yes, that is a tag on the bill. All fish that are to be kept must be tagged and once a fish is tagged, you must stop snagging...

Yes again, spoonbill do make a large signal on the fish finders graph....

DAVID

ah ha my old eyes have not decieved me!!!!
must be the ranger coming out as you sure as shooting couldnt do that over here in freshwater.
the only time ive tried it was for herrings off a wharf.
sounds like a hoot good on ya.