My second day of Paddlefishing for 2015 came on Sunday. Friday was was a record breaking day for paddlefishing with over 150 caught on the first day and total after Friday and Saturday was over 300 fish. This is looking to be a pretty short season! So I made sure to go out out Sunday morning. I decided to head out to the pump house and by the time I re-spooled my reel and got breakfast it was 10:00 before I got there (yeah I’m not really a good morning person). All of the guys that were camping down there over the weekend were packing up and getting ready to go back to wherever they came from and no one was actually paddlefishing! I had my pick of where to fish, thus I chose my favorite spot on the bank and began the casting.

Before we get to far I feel the need to get side tracked and tell you about the official fruit of paddlefishing (not official official but my official fruit) Watermelon! You really shouldnt go fishing without it! Full of deliciousness and hydro packed for hydration you really cant go wrong with the sugary, fruity, slice of watermelon when out going for one of the largest freshwater fish in North America!

Thanks for that message! Ok back to paddlefishing, I found this awesome little platform from which I could stand on. It was a nice flat rock that was ever so slightly higher than the surrounding beach that allowed for a good standing spot with ample friction in case a big one tried to pull me in!

I was out there for several hours and not many other people were out there fishing so it was a bit lonely. But I saw several paddlefish breaching so spirits were high! Not to long into the day I rolled a couple of fish but no hook ups. Then around noon I did my pull just like every other but this time, the pole didnt go all the way back! Hook up! The fish went on its first run and I am trembling with excitement. It did exactly what I knew it would do, ran for the current. I feel good though, I know how to fight it and I have plenty of line to let it run so I do. About 5 min in I feel the fish tire to I give a little more pressure on the fish to turn it around. I feel the fish turn, then I feel the paddle hit the line, then I feel nothing. Some how when turning the fish it managed to hit the line and dislodge the hook. Oh man that was a bummer. I had my chance and lost it! Losing a big fish like that is just super depressing and really makes you want to stop. But I was inspired by Jeremy Wade from rivermonsters and kept on going. I needed to try and get one that day because I was not sure I would have another chance. I sat back in my chair to collect myself and ate another piece of watermelon.

A few hours later another group of paddlefishermen came down to try. one of them managed to snag a nice sized sauger so that was cool. Then around 2:00 a group came down and went to the point out there by the pumphouse. The guy threw one cast, ONE CAST, and snagged a fish! 10 minutes later he landed a nice 40-50 lb fish!

Ok so that really bummed me out! I was like “Come on seriously!? I have been out here all day and he gets one on the first cast!?”. I really wanted to call it then. I ate another piece of watermelon and was revitalized by its deliciousness and kept one going! About five minutes later I had another chance. Once again I pulled the pole back just like so many others before it but this time it did not come all the way back but in stead went ripping the other direction! This was a big fish, pulling a lot of drag and going to the current. I let her go, I knew I had enough line. I worked my way down the shore a little bit and found a spot to climb up the the high ground, this is where I start to fight back. She was still pulling drag but I finally got my first few cranks back 6 minutes into the fight. Using the high ground you get alot of advantage on the fish and can use the current against them. Instead of pulling the fish towards you, you tire the fish out and slowly crank it back to shore. You let the current push on the fish and keep the line steady and it acts as a fulcrum pushing the fish towards shore while someone down stream looks for your fish and helps you grab it. Another fisherman in the area offered to take video and pictures for me so I have a whole video of the fight (he wasnt fishing since once someone hooks up, just about everyone reels in so that no tangles happen and people really just like to watch a big fish get pulled in!).
Here is a short video just after hook up of it pulling drawing:

And a link to the whole video of the fight and the landing!
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B37qmc3XpWfOckV6VjhqWVRHQkU/view?usp=sharing

And after about 15-20 Min the fish was landed! It was a catch and release day so I had to let it go, but the estimated guess was about 60 lbs (me and several others guessed this). She was successfully released back into the water and I thanked her for the amazing experience!

Posted from Alexander, North Dakota, United States.