Bunko Pursuit of Paddlefish 1

Gabby Bunko

Gbunko6@gmail.com

Hi Gabby,

You did an excellent job of shortening this piece for our magazine and the end result

is a strong draft. (Thank you for being willing to make changes!) I’ve gone through and

marked places where you might add, delete, or rearrange certain information. Aside from

a couple notes on organization (see comments), my main suggestion is to include a bit more

on how the experience made you feel. You do a good job of weaving a narrative in between

chunks of interesting information on paddle fishing, but we as the readers are never

allowed to see how those events make our narrator feel. No need to add a whole lot--just try

to sprinkle it in a little here and there. Finally, it would be good to see some more definitive

facts (rather than mere conjecture) in your second to last paragraph about paddle fish

populations and the benefits of the tag system. Your challenge for this next round of editing

will be to make such changes without increasing the word count. Thank you again for your

willingness to revise. We are very excited to have your article in Bitterroot!

Best,

Hannah Dreesbach

In Pursuit of Paddlefish
 Bunko Pursuit of Paddlefish 2

For Submission to Bitterroot Magazine

Word count: 945

As my feet slide forward on the soft sand of the trail, my eyes dart to the sharp drop off to

the left. There’s nothing on my left side but the Missouri River 150 feet below me. 

Once I join my dad and brother, Lucas, at the bottom of the trail, I wait for my mom

while they scout out a good fishing spot where we can catch paddlefish. 

Three of the four of us drew tags to catch and keep paddlefish this year, so my dad

insisted that we go even if he can’t fish; “I’m here to support you guys,” he said.

While we as a family are avid fishermen, this is our first year going after paddlefish. My

dad heard about it from one of his buddies and, once we saw how big paddlefish get, we knew

we had to put in for the drawing.

 The Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks’ (FWP) website holds a yearly lottery for

paddlefish tags, both for keep and catch and release. They have three different tags that allow an

angler to keep a fish: white, yellow, and blue. Each one designates a specific location in which

anglers can fish. The three of us drew white tags. Catch and release normally has a similar

drawing for a permit, but this year FWP shut down catch and release due to Covid, because that

reduces the number of anglers by at least 10,000. The only people out on the river are those who

drew keep tags and their friends or family. This means that there’s only one other group near

where my dad wants us to fish. Over and over again, I cast and snag, hoping to feel my hook hit

a paddlefish. 

The Montana Field Guide tells us that paddlefish cannot be fished conventionally. They

eat plankton by filtering water through their gill-rakers, so they rarely bite at any bait placed on a

hook, so we have to snag them with the hook instead if we want to catch any. It’s certainly
 Bunko Pursuit of Paddlefish 3

harder work. Only a thousand tags were handed out this year, so many people are upset. But

those guys are there to help their friend get the paddlefish in and back up the steep goat trail we

just came down. Per the FWP’s rules, the only help an angler can receive when catching a

paddlefish is for someone to gaff or grab it to get it in. No one is allowed to help with the actual

reeling, otherwise that would be unfair.

 Our gaff is a large hook with a long wooden handle that is meant to hook into the fish

once it’s close enough, so the fisherman doesn’t lose their catch. Gaffing is only allowed if the

fish is going to be kept. Some people don’t use the gaff at all, because they don’t want to hurt the

fish any more than they have to. Many people don’t care for catch and release for the same

reasons--while the barbs on the hook are pinched, meaning the hook can slide out easily, the fish

is still harmed in the process. They question whether or not it’s ethical.

Now across the Missouri, we set up by the bridge, where we’ve fished for the majority of

our time here. Lots of people have tagged out already, which is normal when the water is up this

high. This is the best time to fish, according to the Montana Field guide. Paddlefish make a

yearly journey upriver to spawn, and that journey typically coincides with spring highwater. So

Tthe higher the water level of the river, the more likely the paddlefish are to move. This time is

during paddlefish season, which starts May 1st. Most anglers, like us, wait until the water is high

and the odds of catching one are greater. 

Because it’s time for the fish to spawn, female paddlefish carry eggs, which are actually

considered one of the best and most expensive types of caviar, according to Cast and Spear’s

website. However, they are illegal to sell if you catch a female. The males are typically smaller,

but both sexes are considered to have some of the best white meat. That’s what we’re going for--

since a paddlefish can be between 60 and 160 pounds, that’s a lot of meat in the freezer.
 Bunko Pursuit of Paddlefish 4

It’s not long before Lucas snags one.

I arrive with the gaff just as my brother gets the fish to the shallows near the bank.

Getting closer to the fish, it’s over three fourths my height (a 65-pound male I would later find

out).

The Montana Field Guide and FWP website state that the tag system is important for the

management of paddlefish populations. The number of tags given out directly relate to the

current number of paddlefish. A thousand tags were given out this year, which is less than

previous years. The paddlefish population must have decreased a little. The websites also say

that paddlefish can have reproductive problems, so they may not be spawning at the rate they are

being caught. Without the tag system, the species might become endangered in Montana. The

money that FWP makes from people paying to put into the lottery drawing also helps pay the

Wardens to protect the natural world and keep us safe.

My mom and I fish for two more days after Lucas catches his paddlefish, but with no

luck, though we are grateful for the fish we did catch and for the time we got to spend together.

As we drive from the flourishing, flowing landscape around the Missouri River. Eventually, the

small hills turn into mountains as we head towards Bozeman.