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Former world record paddlefish held by Cory James Watters.

Some fish tales are too tall to believe, but this one is the real deal.

Less than a month after the previous world record paddlefish was snagged during a guided fishing trip at Keystone Lake, the same guide led Angler Cory James Watters of Ochelata to yet a new rod-and-reel world-record title. The 151-pound, 14.4-ounce giant was caught July 23. Watters and his son Stetson, 9, were fishing as clients of guide Jeremiah Mefford of Reel Good Time Guide Service.

Not only did the fish prove to be the new world record for the species, but it came with a very interesting backstory.

The fish was banded, and a follow-up call to Oklahoma State University turned up information that the paddlefish was indeed part of research efforts by Craig Paukert, then a graduate student and currently a professor at the University of Missouri. Records indicate the fish was caught and banded in the Salt Creek arm of Keystone Lake on Jan. 4, 1997. When banded, this fish was about 2 years old, weighed 7.7 pounds and was about 2 feet long. So this world-record fish is about 25 years old!

“This made my day!" Paukert said. "So, I guess this means that I caught the world-record paddlefish, but I didn’t realize it until 23 years later!”

Watters’ paddlefish will become the officially recognized rod-and-reel world record for the species when it is entered in scientific journals by ODWC biologists. This record fish is just the latest in a string of actual or would-be record-setting paddlefish snagged at Keystone this year:

- On June 28, James Lukehart of Edmond snagged a world-record-setting 146.7-pound paddlefish, also while fishing with Mefford.
- On May 23, Mefford himself hauled in a 143-pound paddlefish at Keystone, setting a new state record but missing the then-world record by just a pound.
- On Feb. 14, Justin Hamlin of Kellyville boated a paddlefish that unofficially weighed 157 pounds, but the fish had to be immediately released because it was caught on a "no harvest" day as set in state regulations.

Anglers wanting to experience battling these large fish are required to have a state fishing license (unless exempt) and a free paddlefish permit. Regulations for paddlefish snagging can be found here in the Oklahoma Fishing Regulations Guide.

- This article was adapted from a Wildlife Department news release that first ran July 24, with work from information & education specialists Don P. Brown and Michael Bergin.

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