Drew a paddlefish tag this year for the Missouri River. The fish swim upstream to Gavins Point Dam to spawn. I had a 6 hour drive from my home in Rapid City to Yankton. I set up camp on the lake, then drove the half mile to the spot to fish. I was just going to watch the people at first to get an idea for this. With this being my first tag, I asked some nice fellows a few questions. I figured after watching a guy haul in 3 small ones in a row. Heck I can do that. My first cast of course I broke my line. Grabbed a new set and hooked up. Second cast was a pathetic effort, only about 75 feet. My third cast went over 250 feet, on the way back in I hooked up. It took about 5 minutes to muscle the fish in. The guys that were there watching their friends fish came over to help me bring it in. We quickly threw a tape on it, with a length of 47 inches from eye to crook of tail. It was a keeper, under 35 and over 45 inches are the requirements. The game and fish worker weighed it at 52.4 pounds. He estimated the age at 35 years old. The overall length from tip of paddle to tip of tail was 68 inches. Pretty impressive for a fish to be only 5 inches shorter than me. I spent more than 12 hours on the road, to fish for 30 minutes and clean the fish for 30 minutes. It was a great experience and I cannot wait to receive another tag.
