Starting in deeper water they court her as they move into swift-flowing shallow water where they lay eggs on top of flooded gravel bars. The eggs are attached to clean pebbles and hatch in about seven days. Young fish grow rapidly, reaching 12 inches in their first year. After 15 years, they average 5 feet long and weigh 40 pounds. Females mature at 10 years of age and lay 7,500 eggs per pound of body weight.
Males mature in eight years.
Spawning can be a long-distance affair. Provided there are no dams to block their upstream progress, they may move up to 200 miles over a 30-day period. These prehistoric behemoths grow to 150 pounds and live up to 30 years. Tishomingo NFH, in conjunction with the Oklahoma Fisheries Resource Office and the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, has restored a self-sustaining population of paddlefish above Kaw Reservoir, Oklahoma. This population may soon be open to limited sport fishing.