A lucky Arkansas angler recently reeled in a record-breaking 127-pound goliath with the help of a friend, state officials say.
Garfield resident Mike Schleeper caught a 127-pound, 6-ounce paddlefish on June 15, according to the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. The catch easily beats the previous Arkansas state record for largest paddlefish, which was 118 pounds.
Pictures released by state officials show Schleeper and his friend beaming next to the gigantic fish. The catch appeared to catch up the entire width of a truck.
The catch took place at Beaver Lake in Northwest Arkansas. Schleeper told state officials that he's been fishing in the area for a decade.
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"I’ve been fishing for stripers up here for about 13 years, and I’ve had the chance to catch some stripers over 30 pounds, but this was different," the angler explained. "It didn’t strip line and stop in surges like big stripers do, he just sort of pulled the rod down and kept going."
"I couldn’t turn him so we had to follow him with the trolling motor for about the first 20 minutes."
The fisherman explained that the "fight" between him and the fish took nearly an hour. Schleeper's hook was lodged into one of the fish's pectoral fins.
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"It was a 45-minute fight altogether," he said. "I’d thought maybe it was a really big striper, but then we could finally see it a little bit."
"It looked like a giant catfish at first, but as we got it closer to the boat we realized what it was."
After he and his friend wrestled with the fish and struggled to get it into the boat, they finally hoisted the fish aboard with a rope.
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"As soon as the fish fell to the bottom of the boat, the hook popped free," Schleeper said. "We got really lucky."
According to the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, paddlefish are the oldest-surviving animal species in North America.
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"In fact, paddlefish predate some dinosaurs (300 million years)," the organization says. "Females may spawn only once every 4 to 7 years."
State officials also note that reeling in the fish can be tricky. Because paddlefish don't normally bite lures, snagging them can still count towards Arkansas state records – despite snagged fish often not qualifying for records in other states.
"They rarely, if ever, bite a baited hook, so catches of these fish are often either the result of spearfishing, intentional snagging during special seasons, incidental snagging by anglers fishing for other species, and nets used by commercial angler," the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission adds.
