'Lucky recipient of a monster': Man snags 146-pound world record paddlefish in Oklahoma

'Lucky recipient of a monster': Man snags 146-pound world record paddlefish in Oklahoma

Source: marconews

7/30/2020

It was Caitlin Lukehart's turn to snag the next paddlefish.

But she was too tired from already catching several big ones, so she let her husband have the next turn on the pole.

That twist of fate Sunday gave James Lukehart a likely world record paddlefish weighing 146 pounds, 11 ounces. It also broke the current Oklahoma paddlefish record by several pounds.

Lukehart snagged the behemoth at Keystone Lake, a portion of the Arkansas River west of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Guide Jeremiah Mefford said he saw the huge fish on his fish finder, but it was sheer luck that Lukehart was able to snag it.

"It was his first time out and he was the lucky recipient of a monster," Mefford said. "It was extremely windy, with winds blowing 20-25 mph, with very powerful rolling waves."

Despite the rough conditions, it didn't take Lukehart long to get the fish up to the boat, in part because of the way the fish was hooked.

"It was snagged towards the top half of the fish," Mefford recalled. "When they're hooked that way, they don't have a tendency to pull that long."

Suspecting it might be a possible world record paddlefish, Mefford motored to a nearby boat ramp and called the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife and Conservation, and a fisheries biologist met them to officially weigh the paddlefish.

Keystone Lake

Paddlefish

Continue...

News Id		Source	Stamp	country
3926	Belarus leader beats Putin's pike with man-sized catfish	theobserver	2013-07-31	CA
3927	Marine experts: Gulf of Maine has become a cod-forsaken place, endangering all fisheries	bangordailynews	2013-07-31	US
3928	San Diego angler still fishing at 90, catches giant yellowtail	petethomasoutdoors	2013-07-25	US
3929	Fish-farm firm awarded $75,000 in defamation ruling	theglobeandmail	2013-07-22	CA
3930	Cut Off From the Ocean by a Volcanic Eruption, These Fish Had to Learn to Live in a Lake	hakaimagazine	2021-05-03	US
3931	At least 3.8 million fish killed by winter weather on Texas coast	brownwood news	2021-05-04	US
3932	Seaspiracy Producer Demands Biden Shut Down Fish Factory Farms	vegnews	2021-05-06	US
3933	Does ocean acidification alter fish behavior? Fraud allegations create a sea of doubt	sciencemag	2021-05-06	AU
3934	Combined effort to protect rarest native fish	odt	2013-07-08	NZ
3935	Record rockfish was 64 years old, not 200, tests show	spokesman	2013-07-06	US
3936	Trouts under threat as deadly pesticide devastates top fishing river	express	2013-07-05	UK
3937	In Northern Minnesota, 37-inch pike found dead with 3-pound sucker stuck in jaws	twincities	2013-07-04	CA
3938	Ancient rockfish caught in Alaska: Why nobody threw it back	latimes	2013-07-03	US
3939	Growing cold	Antarctic Sun	2013-07-05	US
3940	Fish in Louisiana lake left covered in sores and blisters after parasite attack	Daily Mail	2013-06-26	US
3941	Bubble-eyed goldfish has to swim on his own in case he bumps into others and BURSTS his eyes	dailymail	2013-06-26	UK
3942	Hydromea unveils the world’s first wireless compact underwater drone		2021-05-17	CH
3943	This underwater hut acts as a nursery to help the renewal of marine species in the Mediterranean	malaymail	2021-04-26	MC
3944	A singing fish: it glows green during courtship and looks like Boris Johnson’s hardship face	theguardian	2021-04-27	LK
3945	Stinging scorpion fish among 10 ‘uncommon species’ recently found in Florida waters	miamiherald	2021-04-28	US
3946	The scale of fish waste sent to landfill could feed a community	stuff	2021-04-30	NZ
3947	Asian carp spawn in more areas than 1st thought	CBC News	2013-06-24	CA
3948	Eklutna, Snettisham hydro projects still haven't redressed fish and wildlife damages	adn	2017-12-02	US
3949	How Igor The Amazonian Pacu Fish Found A Place Called Home	wlrn	2013-06-20	US
3950	Man gets jail for cheating in fishing tournament	bemidjipioneer	2013-06-18	US

157 of [217 - pages.]