Page 5 - Sept/Oct 2021 Outdoor Oklahoma

PROVIDED
KEYSTONE YIELDS YET ANOTHER WORLD-RECORD PADDLEFISH

Holding the newest world-record paddlefish is, from right, angler Grant Rader, fishing guide Jeremiah Mefford, and previous world-record holder Cory
Watters. The 164-pound behemoth was snagged at Keystone Lake on June 22, 2021.
Keystone Lake has again yielded a new world record paddle- of Tulsa, has proved itself over and over as the location of the
fish, the third time in the past 14 months. world’s most robust American paddlefish population. In 2018,
The monster fish weighing 164 pounds was snagged by Oklahoma fisheries biologists netted a 135-pound paddlefish
Grant Rader of Wichita, Kan., on June 22, 2021. He was on during a survey mission at Keystone. At the time, that fish was
a guided fishing trip with Jeremiah Mefford of Reel Good 2.5 pounds heavier than the existing state record.
Time Guide Service. Mefford was also involved in guiding On June 28, 2020, James Lukehart of Edmond snagged a
or catching the previous two world records and one previ- 146-pound-11-ounce paddlefish from Keystone. Only about a
ous state record. month later, on July 23, 2020, Cory Watters snagged a behe-
Cory Watters of Ochelata, the previous paddlefish world moth weighing 151 pounds 14 ounces, also at Keystone.
record holder, was present for the certification of Rader’s fish Both of these fish were weighed and measured by ODWC and
and stepped in to help hold the fish for a photograph. It was certified as sequential new state and world records, exceeding
81.75 inches in length and 43 inches in girth. the previous state record of 143 pounds set on May 23, 2020, by
Keystone Lake, a reservoir on the Arkansas River northeast Jeremiah Mefford.

Wild Turkey Hunting Regulations — The Oklahoma Wildlife Conservation
IT’S THE Commission voted June 28, 2021, to change the statewide season dates and bag
limits for wild turkey. Wildlife Department biologists presented survey results
and research confirming the decline of wild turkey populations in the state.
Commissioners voted to reduce the statewide bag limit to one tom turkey for
both fall and spring seasons, and to limit method of take to shotguns only for
the fall season in those counties that allow turkey hunting with a gun. Also,
the spring season dates were set at April 16 to May 16 statewide, including the
southeastern turkey hunting zone.
— Smokey Solis, Communication Specialist

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