Spoonbill Trip

[Tavery5]

A friend from work and myself recently made the trip to Grand Lake for the spoonbill spawn. It was a great time, very, very, cold weather including freezing rain slowed us down a little but we managed to catch 15 fish. Most of the fish were smaller males in the 40-55 lb. range but we did manage a couple of nice females in the 70 lb range. This is a photo of the first fish I caught during the trip, it is a smaller male somewhere around 45 lbs.

If you have never tried spoonbill fishing, it is a lot of fun, and the fish are great fighters.

[BigBassin144]

Man those are some crazy looking fish!

Sounds like it was a good time despite the weather.

BB

[Jrob78]

That is a crazy looking fish. The gill cover doesn't look like anything I've ever seen before. It kind of looks like its head is almost completely independent of its body.

[joedog]

They are a great fight I hear.
In Wi. they are a protected species and highly regulated.

Do you smoke them or harvest their eggs?
I hear unprocessed paddle fish
eggs have fluctuated from $30-90 per lb, with a
potential value of $250-700 per fish.

I'm not big into the caviar scene myself but know guys who only eat sushi and caviar.
They love the stuff.
The wealthy sit at the Sauk City Dam and buy the eggs right there.
Crazy stuff man. The Wardens patrol the area because 'technically' you need a permit to sell the eggs. They try and catch them milking the eggs into 'strangers' cars. Or people they assume aren't together.

Thats a neat share Tav, thanks.

[Tavery5]

C&R for all the female fish for me Joe, I do get odd looks when I throw them back though. I kept one smaller male fish this year to eat, they take some work but cleanup well and in my opinon are very tasty cut into strips and fried. Kinda a cross between baby seal and bald eagle.

[bamabassman]

fantastic spponbill tavs. a rare catch? looks so PRE-historic looking. i wonder jsut how old the species is.....

[keithdog]

Those are very cool and primitive fish. I'd love to catch one some time. Do they take bait? I heard most guys snag them.

[joedog]

Originally Posted by Tavery5

C&R for all the female fish for me Joe, are very tasty cut into strips and fried. Kinda a cross between baby seal and bald eagle.

I truly respect that Tav!

Now for the taste....

I only have seen one cause it's mandatory CR here.
I hear the gills are like almost a fine cloth to capture the plankton they eat.
Crazy fish and talk about experiencing what our ancestors ate...

Thanks for the share and the good info.

[bluebasser86]

Never caught one on purpose, only caught 2 in my life. Had one on a jigging spoon in the outlet of a local lake that runs into the river. Then I had one in the 30lb range swim through my catfish line and I snagged in the side of the head when I set the hook on what I thought was a catfish running with my bait. They do fight really well, never ate one though.

[bassinbob]

Originally Posted by Jrob78

That is a crazy looking fish. The gill cover doesn't look like anything I've ever seen before. It kind of looks like its head is almost completely independent of its body.

My thoughts to Joe.
The body looks like a freshwater shark.

[nofearengineer]

Originally Posted by bassinbob

My thoughts to Joe.
The body looks like a freshwater shark.

I was going to say they look like a Basking Shark...which makes sense, as it is also a filter feeder.

[Rebbasser]

Never have fished for them but always thought it looked like fun!