Was NOT Expecting This...
 

Out doing some offshore fishing in the mouth of Station Camp Creek by our house when I hooked into a Monster! We had been catching some bass & white bass deep cranking when a ski boat cruised by. Annoyed at how close the boat came to us, I chunked my lure right behind the boat into their wake as to say, "I was fishing there jackass". :p Well, that's where things got interesting. My line started following them at Blazing speed. I knew I had thrown at least 20 yards behind them, but thinking I had hooked the boat did cross my mind with the amount of line screaming off the reel. Their silhouette now fading off into the distance my line headed into the opposite direction. I jumped on the trolling motor at full speed and started chasing this sucker down. I knew there was NO WAY I could horse it in with what I holding. We chased it around for about 10 minutes, many times thinking I was hung up until it would take off again. Eventually we were able to bring him to the surface. I said, that's a Paddlefish! Now what? Happy was able to get the bill into the net and I grabbed his tail and hoisted it on deck. Holy Cow! That was Fun! Sorry to be so long winded, but I had to tell somebody :) BTW, Gear used: 12lb Fluorocarbon, 7'-10" Ike Series rod, & Lews Speed Spool, & 6XD. *The Fish Was Released Alive*

http://i.imgur.com/xS2XHGe.jpg

WOW! what an incredible fish, nice job man too cool.

Dinosaur!! Cool story, too

Thanks Man! It'll be hard to top that this year...

Absolutely. That's what my wife said. Prehistoric! :)

Wow great job getting it in the boat.

That's a fish your going to be talking about years from now. Side note, how was the bass/whites biting out there?

Offshore the Bass bite has slowed down in the last couple of weeks. We see them, but it's 30 minutes between boated fish. The white bass are plentiful. They come up in the jumps and we pull them in 2 at a time on a Double Grub setup.

Wow great post. I will bet that dude had your heart pumping!

That's amazing. Goes to show you just never know what your gonna catch. Where was the fish hooked?

Thats awesome, did you get any measurements?


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I had to sit down afterwards and collect myself :)

2 hooks outside the mouth. How lucky is that?

We flagged down another boat, but they didn't have a scale or measuring tape. When I was holding him on the deck, his tail was touching and the bill went above my head quite a ways. I estimate 6'2" from snout to tail.

I have a funny story about a shovel bill. I was fishing a bluff wall on OH and one of those things came up and breached the surface about 5 feet in front of my trolling motor. It scared me so bad I almost fell out of the boat.

It's probably a good thing you didn't hook it inside the mouth. It would probably have been one of those monsters that get away stories. Congrats on a very cool catch.

If you were down by Cairo, I would not be surprised. Those things are constantly jumping out there. Fishing with my buddy, we kept saying they sound like humans falling from the sky. What a racket they make!

Paddlefish Regs .... <'TK><
 

This is a screen capture of the video of me releasing the fish "Alive". I sent this video to the Tennessean after the phone interview I did tonight. I'll say, for all my past and future posts, I NEVER, I mean, NEVER keep a fish over 10lbs. That's something a newbie would do. The second photo is of me fishing Old Hickory exactly 45 years ago. What's the opposite of newbie? :D hehe! I guess oldie would work. I should probably edit the post to say Released. I'll go do that if it will let me.

http://i.imgur.com/aUxUddU.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/DYNf5ac.jpg

Congrats on catching that monster. Had to be a thrill.

BTW, It looks like you are pulling the fish in the boat by the tail. Is that legal? :D

They are beasts and I have caught one on a crankbait, hooked outside the mouth and likely just an impact hook up but man what a fight. Not as long as Adrian's but solid muscle. Have you guys ever seen them free jumping in the main channel? I don't know why they do it but I have seen it a bunch and on a couple of occasions pretty close to the boat. Freaky when it happens.

Paddlefish Released .... <'TK><
 

"This is a screen capture of the video of me releasing the fish "Alive". I sent this video to the Tennessean after the phone interview I did tonight. I'll say, for all my past and future posts, I NEVER, I mean, NEVER keep a fish over 10lbs. That's something a newbie would do. The second photo is of me fishing Old Hickory exactly 45 years ago. What's the opposite of newbie? hehe! I guess oldie would work. I should probably edit the post to say Released. I'll go do that if it will let me. "

Adrian, thanks for the additional info ... If you have any trouble with the edit let me know ... <'TK><:)

LMAO! :)

I see it all the time up river where it's nice and quiet except for the loud crashing sound every few minutes. It's exciting.


Adrian, thanks for the additional info ... If you have any trouble with the edit let me know ... <'TK><:)
It let me without an issue, That's Good! Thanks...

Your secret is safe here on fish'n TN

https://www.tennessean.com/videos/sp...ke/1085061002/

Haha! For sure. Don't tell anyone :)

Wow! Congratulations. That is a catch to remember!

Thanks Wormdunker! It sure was :)

Congrats Adrian. Any guess what that old hickory shark weighed.Awesome looking critter.

[QUOTE=luckystratos;83848]Congrats Adrian. Any guess what that old hickory shark weighed.Awesome looking critter.[/QUOTE

Thanks Man! All I know is that it was way heavier than the 50+ stripers I've caught. I could only hold it up for a couple of clicks and I'd have to take a break. Let's just say I have a lot of grimacing photos to delete off my phone :)

You’re a freakin fish magnet. Start a guide service man.

As soon as I get a Boat Endorsement I will :)

Nice. I beat that was a chore to get in the boat too.