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.