Paddlefish 9-10-2006

[jwateacher3]

I saw a thread about paddlefish and thought I might offer this info..A few years ago I had a student whose father was a commercial fisherman. They mainly fished for paddlefish for the cavair. The boy eventually graduated and is now following in his fathers foot steps as a commercial fisherman. They showed me the whole process one day and it was very interesting. And yes, they catch all kinds of fish, but they can only keep paddlefish and catfish. They told me they quite often get bass in the 10 pound range and have to throw them back. The most amazing thing is that they sell their cavair to a company in Fl which in turn send it to Europe and Russia. They sell the paddlefish meat to a company in Japan where it is considered a delicacy. Another strange fact is Paddlefish are like sharks, they do not have any bones.

 

[polo-dog]

RE: Paddlefish

Thanks JW, I knew about the fish eggs but didn't know that they kept the meat. I haven't seen many paddlefish in Chickamauga but I have heard from a bunch of people recently about ones that they have seen.

 

[fishinvol]

RE: Paddlefish

While fishing at the nuke with Dhaun a few weeks ago,they were shooting out of the water like rockets. Didn't see a ton of them but whem we did it was fun to watch.

 

[Fishin Fool]

RE: Paddlefish

We actually ate some of them years ago. They were pretty good fish, they just didn't taste like fish which was kinda weird. A buddy of mine long since past away, gave us some fillets. I do however, recall bones or hard cartilage in them.

 

[jwateacher3]

RE: Paddlefish

Thats right its cartilage like, flexable and does not break like a bone would.

 

[Hair Jig]

RE: Paddlefish

Fishin Fool - 9/10/2006 12:35 PM We actually ate some of them years ago....

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FishinFool............you're much more of a man than I am !

</p>

 

[tennfisher]

RE: Paddlefish

jwateacher3 - 9/10/2006 5:44 AM

I saw a thread about paddlefish and thought I might offer this info..A few years ago I had a student whose father was a commercial fisherman. They mainly fished for paddlefish for the cavair. The boy eventually graduated and is now following in his fathers foot steps as a commercial fisherman. They showed me the whole process one day and it was very interesting. And yes, they catch all kinds of fish, but they can only keep paddlefish and catfish. They told me they quite often get bass in the 10 pound range and have to throw them back. The most amazing thing is that they sell their cavair to a company in Fl which in turn send it to Europe and Russia. They sell the paddlefish meat to a company in Japan where it is considered a delicacy. Another strange fact is Paddlefish are like sharks, they do not have any bones.

Since paddlefish are filter feeders, I thought the only way to catch them was snagging. In Tennessee, sportfishermen can only be take them for 5 weeks beginning in late April through May with a limit of 2 per day. I just don't see how commercial fishermen could find this economically feasible.

Tennfisher

 

[Fishin Fool]

RE: Paddlefish

The commercial fisherman I knew back in the late 70's caught his on a trot line. Indeed he did "snag" the fish. He said that he was fishing for cat fish and when he pulled the line up this huge paddle came up first! He said it was early in the morning, just before daylight and the sight about scared him to death! As he got closer he realized what it was. The fish was just about dead and he brought it home and dressed it out. He brought us several thick steaks of the fish and my mom fried them in cornmeal. I was a little leary of the idea but when I took a bite was really, really surprised. It tasted very mild and was very flaky. Most paddle fish are raised in captivity now for the eggs which are shipped to Europe for the most part. Some people say they rival the caviar of Russia and with the demise of the sturgeon are a good stand in. A large female can have a HUGE amount of eggs which sell for a small fortune, so I would assume that is what the commercial guys are about.

 

[tennfisher]

RE: Paddlefish

Fishin Fool - 9/10/2006 7:56 PM

........ A large female can have a HUGE amount of eggs which sell for a small fortune, so I would assume that is what the commercial guys are about.

Yeah, you are right. Come to think about it, I seem to recall that a few years ago the Russians obtained a large number of paddlefish fry for stocking over there. Apparently they were well aware of the paddlefish's potential as a cavier producer.

Tennfisher

 

[Fishing machine]

RE: Paddlefish

I caught a paddlefish at Sequoyah last week on skipjack. First time I ever caught one on bait. I used to snagg them below the dam years ago. I'll get my son to post the picture of the one last week.

 

[BaitBucket]

RE: Paddlefish

Here's Machine's paddlefish:

 

[Bprice]

RE: Paddlefish

Thats awesome! Glad to see that fish is still swimming around. How was the fight?

I know in Bama we can NOT keep them under any circumstance... immediate release required.

 

[drumking]

RE: Paddlefish

Fishin Fool - 9/10/2006 12:35 PM

We actually ate some of them years ago. They were pretty good fish, they just didn't taste like fish which was kinda weird. A buddy of mine long since past away, gave us some fillets. I do however, recall bones or hard cartilage in them.

I caught one 3 years ago that weighed 20 pounds and was 51 inches long. I cleaned it and ate that fish because I had heard that the taste was good. It tasted a lot like Stripers to me and Stripers are my favorite fish to eat, period.emoGeezer

 

[TennesseeTalker]

That is such a cool fish!

TT