Wichita teen with muscular dystrophy reels in world record paddlefish on family trip

An 18-year-old Wichita man on a fishing trip to celebrate his birthday and high school graduation in Oklahoma has caught a world record, 164-pound paddlefish.

“It was heart pounding, excitingest moment of fishing career for me,” Grant Rader told KOTV as his father and grandfather stood behind him after Tuesday’s catch. “I can’t describe it. It is one of the greatest things ever to be able to pull in that kind of a new state and world record.”

KOTV reported that Rader, who has muscular dystrophy, a disease that causes the loss of muscle mass, went to the casino for the first time the night before and won $1,000 that he wants to use to purchase a replica mount of his record fish. KOTV reported that the fishing trip was a celebration for Rader’s birthday and high school graduation.

Rader’s monster fish was snagged on Keystone Lake, which has a history of world-record paddlefish, according to the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation. In a photo of the fish posted on Facebook by the ODWC, Rader is holding the fish alongside Jeremiah Mefford, with Reel Good Time Guide Service, and former world record holder Cory Watters.

Watters was in the area and came out to see the record fish, according to ODWC Senior Fisheries Biologist Jason Schooley.

Before Rader’s fish was measured, Watters was the rod-and-reel world record holder after catching a paddlefish that weighed over 151-pounds in July 2020. Watters also caught the record fish in Keystone Lake while fishing with Reel Good Time Guide Service, which was also there when a client caught another world-record paddlefish in the same lake in June 2020.

Mefford told KOTV that based on a unique markings he could tell the fish Rader caught was the same one a client snagged in February 2020. Then it reportedly weighed 157 pounds, but was never certified as a world record.

Rader’s 164-pound fish was located using Garmin Panoptix LiveScope technology, Schooley said. Rader then snagged the monster with a hook.

Rader wanted the fish released after it was measured.

“Unfortunately, the fish was not recovering well and so we made the decision that it would be harvested,” he said, adding they spent about an hour trying to resuscitate the fish. “And so the guide cleaned the fish for them, they took the meat and we retained some structures for research purposes.”

The oldest known paddlefish in Oklahoma is 29, and Schooley estimates Rader’s fish is around that age. He said once the lower jaw bone dries out, growth rings will appear which can be counted to give a more precise age.

“It was a non-reproductive female fish with lots of fat,” he said.

Paddlefish, also known as a spoonbill, are a prehistoric species.

“The largest American paddlefish on record, taken by a spear fisherman in Iowa in 1916, reportedly weighed 198 pounds,” according to the ODWC.