17 Years In The Making...A New ND State Record Paddlefish

I remember the first time I laid eyes on one. Prehistoric, ancient, unbelievable, something like this should be in the Smithsonian with other dinosaurs and a plaque declaring it extinct for 200 million years. I’ve since caught a few and the prevailing thought always defaults back to that first impression. Prehistoric.

Alex Mergen, his Dad, Dave, older brother Zach and Uncle Daryl had no idea they were driving towards destiny. A long detour at Grassy Butte sent them off course and got them into Williston, ND much later than expected. With 2 years of effort and zero results it is no wonder he is getting a little disgusted. Two more trips without a fish and Alex is going to call it quits.

Fact is the odds have not been all that good for the entire gang. Last season 7 left home from SD for the trek up Hwy 85 and only one went home with a fish. That was Zach, Alex’s older brother. Zach is the kind of kid you want to sit next to on the trip north and ask his advice on how it’s done. For the record he has 3 seasons under his belt with 3 fish to show for it. That has got to be more than luck, it’s a gift.

Opener is Saturday, May 1st. Like many openers Mother Nature likes to see if you really want to come outside and play. Snow, rain, mud, wind, all pre-requisites for a good day on the slippery banks of the Missouri. After an 8 hour drive you’re not going to call it quits, so dig down and find the passion. If you’re 16, like Alex, you don’t have to dig very deep.

Day one passes as uneventful as previous years. No fish. This should be me in the story. The no fish part I mean. Kind of off the subject but I just checked and my chest is a puny 39 inches. Last time I measured I topped out at around 5’9”. I like to think of myself as taut, slim, ruggedly handsome. My wife informed me that….. let’s just stick with the story.

Even after a good night’s sleep in Sidney, Alex is on the down side of life. No wonder, snow and fishing just don’t go together. His Dad, Dave, described him as moping around. It’s day two and season has been open for 7 minutes

Alex, left, and Zach Mergen of Rapid City with a strenuous yet welcomed smile as they embrace the 130-pound, North Dakota state-record paddlefish. Photo Credit:  Daryl Mergen

already before Uncle Daryl and Alex slide into the water and muck out in knee deep goo past the willows for the first cast. Set up just east of the boat ramp, Alex is on his 4th cast when it happens.

12 feet of Ugly Stick wound tight with 80 lb mono snaps to attention as Alex comes to life! “First I thought I hit a sand bar, I set the hook again and I knew I had a fish. I cranked like crazy, the fish just kind of came to shore and then stopped about 30 feet out. It was hooked about 6 inches behind the head and I was worried the line might break. Dad was able to gaff it and drag it to shore. We knew it was big. My brother Zach and I couldn’t even carry it. We had no idea but hoped it might go 90 lbs.”

After a short drag to the cleaning station, with the help of a spectator, the ancient monster was hooked up to the digital scale that instantly read OVER. We are gonna need a bigger scale here! It takes about 20 minutes before a spring scale is set up. The weight settles, bottoms out at 150 and slowly slides back to 132. No question, that is a new state record paddlefish by 10 pounds. Congratulations Alex Mergen!

Alex gave me the measurements over the phone a day after he set the new record. 46 inch girth, 6 feet 2 inches long, ya I know, over half a foot bigger than my chest. Don’t rub it in, I can do the math. So what if it’s almost half a foot taller than me. 22 ½ pounds of eggs, that’s a lot of caviar, way more than I could eat in my lifetime. I know, tried it once. I brush often and can still taste it.

Transformation is amazing, from moping around, head hanging, to walking up and down the shoreline telling folks, “I just caught the state record paddlefish.” Alex is riding high. “I wasn’t even born when the last state record was caught,” he said. It’s been 17 years since anything like this has happened. As to the gifted, lucky, older brother Zach. Alex explained to me in detail how a 25 lb fish, a 35 lb fish and this season’s 40 lb fish all added together don’t match his, not even close.

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