Paddlefish Snaggin'

Have you ever heard of paddlefish or spoonbill? I had heard of it but never actually seen one before until I started dating Mr. Smith, right after we met he went on a trip with some friends and while that trip wasn't a very successful one I did some pictures of small ones. Well this year I knew I was going, made arrangements for the kids weeks in advance even.
I wanted to catch a big fish, I wanted to provide for my family, I wanted a weekend get away.
My first trip was TERRIBLE. Absolutely. RIDICULOUS. It was cold, it was raining, it hailed on us... We found a cave to hide it until the hail the penny sized hail stopped. Then just when we thought it was all done and back to being just stupid cold again it starts snowing. I'm not talking about little flakes either, the biggest flakes I had seen all winter down south. I didn't even want to go back.
BUT, I didn't catch anything that weekend.. so I made plans for another weekend. And I went back to mid-Missouri.
This time when we get on the river it's got white caps it's so dang windy but at least it wasn't cold right? We limited out within 3 hours that day it was AMAZING and fun. I thought I had gotten snagged up on a log or something the first time I hooked in to one. After fighting it for a few minutes we got it in the boated I was so gleaming. Tired-yes- but cheerful.
The next day I ended up limiting out right away but the hubs couldn't quite get the job done and it was miserably hot that day. We had sun burns by the end of the day, I was stripping down in the boat trying to get my long johns off so I didn't die of heat stroke. I tell going what... Missouri is the worst state ever when it comes to weather.

Needless to say, I got the fish and we're going back for more! It is a great freezer filler, 1 fish completely cleaned fills up a little more than a 1 gallon bag. Personally I think it taste like catfish, and that's one of the few thinks the children will eat so it's a score for us.