How big do paddlefish get, and why are females typically larger than males?

The world record paddlefish weighed 164 pounds 13 ounces and was snagged at Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri in 2024. The current North Dakota record is a tie between two 131-pound fish snagged in 2016 and 2024. Fish living in lakes and reservoirs often grow faster and larger than those living solely in rivers, because reservoirs usually contain more zooplankton, a primary food source for paddlefish.

Male and female paddlefish have evolved different strategies for passing genes to the next generation. For a female, the larger she grows the more eggs she can develop and the more young paddlefish she can potentially produce. For a male a larger size is not nearly as advantageous, because even a small male produces millions of sperm, more than enough to fertilize all the eggs from the largest female.