Question: Paddlefish tackle recommendations

[Evenflow]

Anyone have any paddlefish tackle recommendations for a first timer? What kind of rod, line (lb. test, mono or braid), weight sizes? We will be fishing from a boat if that makes a difference. Thanks.

[tmn515]

I am not sure, I might be wrong, but I believe that eric posted a pretty nice tutorial last year around this time. Do a search for him and I am sure you will find it. Hope this helps!

Troy

['Eye Finder]

I brought three to the boat last spring on a medium action pole with 6# fireline and a 1/4 oz jig. All you should need is a heavy action pole with a heavy braided line, a 2-3 ounce weight and a 2/0 treble hook.

[danager]

Sidenote from experience and seeing other conversations: If you are fishing from shore think twice about spooling a reel full of braid. Depending on water levels you may want to go with mono so you don't lose half of your spool of braid on the first snag! And believe me, you'll snag more than once. I lost a whole spool of braid last fall while fishing from shore. Next time I'll be using a heavy mono.

[Catfishsteve]

Good points, Danager, I've fished this from shore and I agree.

[Eric]

Originally Posted by Evenflow

Anyone have any paddlefish tackle recommendations for a first timer? What kind of rod, line (lb. test, mono or braid), weight sizes? We will be fishing from a boat if that makes a difference. Thanks.

Fishing from a boat means few problems with rocks. It also means you can give chase to any really big fish you might hook, which may be necessary depending on the amount of crowding. If you have a fish take drag and pull you out... and then another guy hooks your line... you'll likely lose the fish.

Rods range from 5 1/2 ft "pool cues" to 12 and 15 foot surf rods. The trick is finding the right amount of "give" so you DO get the hook set on the fish, but DON'T break off, lose your grip on the rod, or even injure yourself on impact with the fish. I'd recommend pairing of heavy braid line to a longer rod and spinning gear, or heavy mono to a pool cue and penn reel setup.

Reels range from the occasional 808(not recommended), the large spinning reels, and Penns and other baitcasters. Look for sturdy construction, smooth operation/ball bearings, and high gear ratio(for fast line pickup) as important to snagging. Lines range from 30 on up to at least 80# test, personal preference there and also regarding mono or braid. 50# is a good place to start.

Sinkers are normally "bank" style sinkers of 3-8 oz. Look for solid lead sinkers, no swivel eye types as these sometimes break. 2/0 hooks(or smaller) are required. Buy quality hooks with straight points, some trebles have a curled-in point that is less good for snagging.

If you've never snagged paddles before, be prepared for some things...they can swim very fast when first hooked, but unless they are really big, half the fight is like dragging a boot in. They often tangle and roll on the line. Landing nets and paddlefish don't go too well together, so you'll usually have to just grab 'em. Be prepared to cut tangles free and re-tie often to facilitate quick release of tangled fish. Be prepared to measure and release them quickly, keep your tape measure, line snippers, and some regular sized pliers handy. Regular pliers work better than needlenose for extracting the large trebles.

[Evenflow]

Thanks for the advice Eric, I can't wait for the season to start.

[vizslaguy08]

Personally I prefer a surf type rod with a spinning reel. My rod is 9' and I have a large Okuma Spinner on it. I
also use lighter line than most people. I think it is 20 or 25 pound test mono. I use 2 or 3 oz. bank sinkers. I like to cast a LOOOng ways. I have landed hundreds of fish with this set up, for what its worth I have also landed a LOT on a med fast 6' St. Croix and a Shimano Sedona with 6lb. test.

[Fish On]

Originally Posted by Eric

Landing nets and paddlefish don't go too well together, so you'll usually have to just grab 'em..

We made a "tail noose" With a 3-4' piece of 3/4" tube. Take some fairly heavy insulated wire 10ga or so (4-6'). fasten one end in the tube, run the remainder through the tube and make into a slip loop. When you bring the fish near you, slip the loop over the tail and tighten it up and then you can get it in the boat for measuring.

[Coop]

Originally Posted by Evenflow

Anyone have any paddlefish tackle recommendations for a first timer? What kind of rod, line (lb. test, mono or braid), weight sizes? We will be fishing from a boat if that makes a difference. Thanks.

I'm in the same boat, I went to Cabela's, and talked with some guys there who had experience snagging and got some good information.

My goal was to have something that had some re-use potential beyond snagging. I wanted something I could actually cast without a half pound weight as well. Finally, I didn't want to go bigger than 7', because that's all I really want to use in my boat.

I ended up getting A Cabela's Salt Striker (60 size) reel, and a 7' King Kat medium heavy rod. I had them spool 40lb Cajun mono on it. The Cajun brand is just my personal preference, I've always had very good luck with it in lighter weights.

The reason I went with mono is they advised me that superline is more prone to cutting the fish because of it's smaller diameter. Now... this makes sense to me, BUT... I've incedentally snagged my fair share of paddlefish while up there using superline, and haven't seen this myself. Because I'd prefer to error on the side of caution, I don't see the harm in using a higher diameter mono, the reel holds more than enough.

I like this setup a lot actually. I've used it a couple times catfishing, and I can cast a 2 ounce weight half a mile... Unfortunately I haven't had a big fish on it yet but it seems sturdy enough to handle a paddlefish pretty well. Best part is I got out the door for $75 bucks including a spool of line.

[danager]

Coop,

How do you like your salt striker? I just bought one (spinning) and have yet to use it. I bought it for snagging.

[RedEye]

To save yourself a lot of frustration on the rocks.

Leave about 2' of line off the treble. Tie a snap swivel about 1' below the treble. Prepare a dozen or so 1-2 oz weights on ~1' of lighter mono with a loop on the end to put on the swivel. When you get caught in the rocks you can break off the weight and quickly snap another on. The other thing I do is wrap the line that trails off the treble with a bit of plumbers tape so the line comes off nice and straight from the bottom of the hook.

If at all possible avoid opening day and take a hooky day in mid week. There are always a lot of people casting off the banks and in boats. Can get kind of frustrating dealing with the crowd. 99% of the people are cool. But I always seem to end up getting stuck by the dude that wants to stand 1 foot away and barely misses me with his over sized treble when casting and on his last big pull at the end.

Oh, I agree a net is not worth the effort. Bring a couple pairs of crappy ole cloth gloves. Wear at least one, or slip it on when you get one. It is a huge help in grabbing a tail when landing these guys.

good luck,
it is a blast
and please do your best to take care of these ancient creatures.

[Coop]

Originally Posted by danager

Coop,

How do you like your salt striker? I just bought one (spinning) and have yet to use it. I bought it for snagging.

So far, so good. The fish haven't been helpful in testing it yet, though. It is huge, and not terribly light... It's well over a pound. But it seems well built, aluminum body, and stainless internals. I wouldn't want to spend all day casting it, but for snagging from a boat and catfishing it seems like a nice reel. I checked the reviews at Cabelas.com before I went, and they're pretty much all positive.

The only thing that I wish it had was a spare spool. I'd like to have one loaded with a lighter line that I could quickly swap out when I want to use it for catfishing as I'd prefer something thinner with a little less memory when casting it.

[danager]

Good to know. Thanks!

[Thad S.]

I use a Salt Striker/King Kat combo from Cabelas that I have had for almost 3 years. It is probably very similar to yours. I have it spooled with 25 lb mono and it works great for snagging and catfishing. I haven't had a really big paddlefish on it yet, but this setup easily handled fish up to 35 lbs snagging from the bank down here in OKover Labor Day weekend. Plus I really liked the bait clicker feature on the reel for cats. Good luck!

[danager]

I had NO idea you owned one Thad! Glad to hear it's handled well. I'm excited to give it a try...that is the next time I draw a tag, OR head SOUTH!!!!

[bluefox213]

If you are going to fish from shore as I am. Go with the following a 9' medium/heavy action rod or longer. A larger heavy duty spinning reel with about 25lb test of quality mono. Braid will only cause you problems, #1 being that paddlefish can often get tangled up in the line when you snag them. Braided line will cut the fish more than mono because it has no give to it.

[Ty Stromquist]

Originally Posted by vizslaguy08

Personally I prefer a surf type rod with a spinning reel. My rod is 9' and I have a large Okuma Spinner on it. I
also use lighter line than most people. I think it is 20 or 25 pound test mono. I use 2 or 3 oz. bank sinkers. I like to cast a LOOOng ways. I have landed hundreds of fish with this set up, for what its worth I have also landed a LOT on a med fast 6' St. Croix and a Shimano Sedona with 6lb. test.

This is basically exactly what I use. I love the 25lb mono. I can cast that baby forever. My rod is also 9ft.

With a properly set drag it doesnt matter how big the line is. Also a smaller line will cut the water better and help you get deeper.


Was up there this weekend and paddles were rolling all over.

[elkstalkr]

Originally Posted by Ty Stromquist

This is basically exactly what I use. I love the 25lb mono. I can cast that baby forever. My rod is also 9ft.

With a properly set drag it doesnt matter how big the line is. Also a smaller line will cut the water better and help you get deeper.


Was up there this weekend and paddles were rolling all over.

You can chalk another one up for that type of rig. I use 20lb test.

Grew up snaggin in Okie land and thats pretty much a standard rig down there, where long casts are absolutely a must when bank fishing.

[JVnubs]

We do most of our snagging out of a boat now but I spent a lot of years on the rocks. Here is a little trick I learned for the shore. Use ~25# mono like the guys mentioned so you can break it if you have to. Tie the hook in with ~8 inches after the hook, go to walmart and buy some cheap 10-12 inch flexable steel leaders, tie the leader to the 8 inch tail. Snap the end of the leader back to itself where you tied on the tail. The leader is now in a "loop", pinch the loop and stick it through the eye of the wieght and over the body of the wieght, pull it tight. In my experience most of the loss of tackle on the shore comes from the line getting nicked up on the rocks near the wieght, this method will eliminate this problem. I will be out there this weekend. Good luck to you all! Weights and hooks are not that expensive so if you catch my line you can have it, it's not worth a fight. I had some trouble with that last year. You would have thaught the guy was using gold tackle