Bonus Tag!!

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Spysar
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Bonus Tag!!

Unread postby Spysar » Sat Aug 07, 2010 11:39 pm

I'm pretty sure I got it. My points are gone, and my bank account has been charged. I'm still waiting for the official word. What tag is this?

Paddlefish!!

Anyone ever get one? I'm doing this on my hunting trip to SD and Nebraska. I'm right in the middle of paddlefish paradise, so I figured what the heck, I might as well try it. The paddlefish season is the month of October. It took me three years of applying to get the tag. It's almost as hard to get as the Iowa bow tag I have this year!


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Re: Bonus Tag!!

Unread postby dan » Sun Aug 08, 2010 1:29 am

Paddlefish? You shooting it? or fishing for it?
Many, many years ago there was a huge write up in the paper about someone catching several paddle fish in Beaver damn lake ( Wisconsin ) and leaving them on the shore to die and rot in a park. Outraged people called the fish endangered and some offered rewards for the capture of the people responsible.
The next year they poisoned all the fish in Beaver damn lake to get rid of the carp :roll:
I have never seen one in the wild... Only at a zoo aquarium.
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Re: Bonus Tag!!

Unread postby Spysar » Sun Aug 08, 2010 2:34 am

They have a bow season for them, but I won't be there in time for that. I'm going to catch them with a fishing pole. You actually snag them as they are plankton feeders. Every year I watch and see people catching them. It's a great spot for it, so I figure what the heck. A very rare, and unique fish. I can't wait to get one. They say they're great to eat to. Last year the big one of the area was over 80lbs! :shock: Can't wait to try it.
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Re: Bonus Tag!!

Unread postby muddy » Sun Aug 08, 2010 6:26 am

Where do they legally hold a bow season for paddlefish? Snagging is legal in some areas but that's all I know of. They're very cool fish, they can get gigantic in size all by swimming around with their mouth open eating microscopic plankton. I've caught them for research purposes here in Iowa for the DNR, they're awesome fish.

Another little fact, no bones in them, all cartiledge.
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Re: Bonus Tag!!

Unread postby WiBowhuntress » Sun Aug 08, 2010 8:46 am

I;ve seen many paddlefish...aka spoonbills...on the Wisconsin River. If you go to the dam in Sauk City, sometimes you can see then jumping out of the water trying to shake those lampreys off of them. They are a wild looking creature.

Several years ago we were fishing on one of the sandbars and a spoonbill got tangled up in our lines. It has bit on one of our poles and managed to get wrapped up on the next 4 or 5 poles as it moved down with the current. We pulled it in and untangled the lines as fast as we could to get it back swimming right.

I was told by someone that if you are fishing and you know you have one hooked, you have to get it in as fast as you can or cut your line to let it go so it doesn't get worn out from fighting it. Not sure if that's true or not but I do know they are protected on the Wisconsin River.
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Re: Bonus Tag!!

Unread postby WiBowhuntress » Sun Aug 08, 2010 8:47 am

Oops...forgot to say congratulations to you Eric..I hope you got the tag and we'll really be looking forward to hearing a story about that fishing trip! Those things get HUGE! :shock: :D
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Re: Bonus Tag!!

Unread postby Spysar » Sun Aug 08, 2010 8:48 am

muddy wrote:Where do they legally hold a bow season for paddlefish? Snagging is legal in some areas but that's all I know of. They're very cool fish, they can get gigantic in size all by swimming around with their mouth open eating microscopic plankton. I've caught them for research purposes here in Iowa for the DNR, they're awesome fish.

Another little fact, no bones in them, all cartiledge.


Nebraska is where I got my tag, and where they hold a bowfishing season for them.
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Re: Bonus Tag!!

Unread postby chad » Mon Aug 09, 2010 5:05 am

Good luck! hope you have pics to share! 8-)
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Re: Bonus Tag!!

Unread postby muddy » Mon Aug 09, 2010 7:52 am

WiBowhuntress wrote:
I was told by someone that if you are fishing and you know you have one hooked, you have to get it in as fast as you can or cut your line to let it go so it doesn't get worn out from fighting it. Not sure if that's true or not but I do know they are protected on the Wisconsin River.


For sake of conversation I wonder if that bit of info is more related to shovelnose sturgeon? Paddlefish are not spiney or rough at all and I don't think they'd cut a line up? A shovelnose would for sure, they have some seriously sharp plates, or scutes, all over their body for protection. I had ahold of one a few years ago, he flopped, he cut, I bled, I cried.
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Re: Bonus Tag!!

Unread postby Spysar » Mon Aug 09, 2010 9:16 am

I think she's talking about the fish wearing out, not the line.
A buck will see you three times, and hear you twice, but he's only gonna smell you once.
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Re: Bonus Tag!!

Unread postby muddy » Mon Aug 09, 2010 10:06 am

If that's the case, I'd agree totally. :mrgreen:
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Re: Bonus Tag!!

Unread postby Sam Ubl » Tue Aug 10, 2010 12:43 am

We catch them every year fishing walleyes in the spring below the Wisconsin Dells dam and the Sauk Prairie Dam. We usually hook up to one or two during sturgeon season, which is always below the Sauk Prairie Dam for me.

Sweet fish, but super weird.
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Re: Bonus Tag!!

Unread postby Spysar » Tue Aug 10, 2010 9:27 am

Well, I just checked the status of my tag, and.....

It was awarded, and the tag will be mailed to me shortly!

It should be fun trying for one of these things. From what I've seen, i'll get one, but there's a slot limit for keepers. You can keep one small one, or 1 big one. The middle size ones are the good breeders, and have to be released. I'm hoping to keep one in the big slot, but I'll take what I can get. :D

It's a one fish season. I think you can catch and release, but once you clip the tag, your done for the season.
A buck will see you three times, and hear you twice, but he's only gonna smell you once.


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