‘Prehistoric river monster’ caught by fisherman in kayak, Arkansas officials say

Fishing for walleye, a fish often between 1 and 3 pounds, an Arkansas man instead had a date with a monster.

What ensued for Robert Murphy was an hour-long battle on the Upper White River to reel in the massive spoonbill paddlefish. Arkansas Game & Fish Commission officials referred to it as a “prehistoric river monster.”

Making things more challenging for Murphy was his vessel. The Fayetteville fisherman was nestled inside his personal kayak in his quest to reel in the fish.

He told Outdoor Life he initially wasn’t sure what kind of fish he had hooked, but he realized it was a paddlefish when he saw a nearby fisherman had reeled in a similar fish.

“I have an electric motor on my kayak, and I had to use it to spook the fish back into deep water to keep it from fouling in near-shore brush,” Murphy told Outdoor Life. “The fish had a scar on its side that I’m sure was a propeller mark. I’m sure that’s why it didn’t like my motor, which helped me keep it in mid-current during the fight.”

Murphy was finally able to haul the fish onto his boat. Though it was shy of the 118-pound, 9-ounce state record, the “remarkable catch” weighed 102 pounds, officials said.

He told Outdoor Life he kept the 71.5-inch long fish and has already tasted its roe, which is often called “poor man’s caviar.”

Paddlefish are found in the Mississippi River system of North America. They get their “prehistoric” label because their fossil records date back 300 million years.

“Because they need lots of open, free-flowing rivers plus oxbows and backwaters for feeding and gravel bars for spawning, paddlefish numbers have declined with damming of river, stream channelization, levee construction and drainage of bottomlands,” Arkansas officials said in 2018.

This story was originally published April 14, 2023 at 4:04 PM with the headline "‘Prehistoric river monster’ caught by fisherman in kayak, Arkansas officials say."