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The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation announced on Thursday, July 23rd, that a new world record paddlefish has been confirmed!
A New World Record With a Great Story
The Northeast Region fisheries staff received a call from Jeremiah Mefford, a fishing tour guide. Mefford informed staff that Cory Watters, his client, had just pulled in a paddlefish that qualified as the new world record.
ODWC staff met the angler at Keystone Lake and got an official weight — 151.9 pounds with a length of almost six feet!
The ODWC also reported that the new world record had been banded by researchers from Oklahoma State University on January 4, 1997. At the time of its banding, the fish — which was only about two years old at the time — weighed a mere seven pounds and measured just over two feet in length.
By default, Watters’ paddlefish also serves as the new Oklahoma, United States, and North American record. The fish was released and tracked using a Garmin Livescope.
Keystone Lake is a Paddlefish Hotbed
Watters’ massive catch isn’t the only world record paddlefish hauled in this year.
Even more shocking is the fact that it isn’t the only world record landed on Keystone Lake this year!
It’s not even the only world record paddlefish brought in from Keystone within the past month!
In the video above, angler James Lukehart pulls in the now-previous world record paddlefish from Keystone Lake.
Lukehart’s paddlefish weighed in 146 pounds, 11 ounces and was landed on June 28th, 2020.
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