Oklahoma is well known for its great paddlefish population. As a matter of fact, we have had two world-record paddlefish caught out of Keystone Lake. The beast weighed in at 164 pounds, beating the previous record by over ten pounds! The record was recently broken by an angler in Missouri by only 13 ounces. Oklahoma began its reintroduction of paddlefish in 1992. Paddlefish are among the largest and longest-living fish species in North America. The paddlefish, known locally as spoonbill, was alive when dinosaurs were around in the late Cretaceous Period. Paddlefish have wide gaping mouths and toothbrush-like bristles in their gills. They swim through the water with their mouths open and filter feed on small, microscopic plankton, much like whale sharks do.

The fisheries division of the Wildlife Department has placed bands on thousands of paddlefish in lakes statewide. These bands are an important research tool allowing biologists to learn about population abundance, individual growth, and annual harvest. Anglers can assist in this effort by reporting banded harvest, not removing bands from released fish, and knowing the regulations.