Missouri anglers love their catfish
Missouri anglers love their catfish, and it's easy to understand why. A big catfish is a strong fighter, and fried catfish is hard to beat at the supper table. Because they are so easy to catch, catfish are many Missourians' first fish—an event no angler forgets.
Next Generation of Conservation
Talk About Outdoor Recreation
Whether your idea of outdoor fun is birding, hunting or fishing, you'll find timely tips and talk about it here. Send your comments and follow related links.
If you're new to catfishing, use these pages to stay up-to-date with regulations, learn to identify Missouri's catfish and find good catfish waters. This mini-site also covers safe, ethical and reliable methods for catching catfish.
Even if you aren't itching to angle (and why aren't you?), have fun using this site to explore the world of these amazing "whiskered" fish.
How They Got Their Name
Catfish are probably named for the four pairs of long, slender, flexible barbels that look like cat whiskers near their mouths. The barbels are loaded with taste buds. Catfish have very poor eyesight and rely on taste, touch and smell to locate food.
A Word of Caution
Contrary to any fish tales you might have heard, the whiskers of catfish are harmless to touch. However, catfish can inflict painful wounds with their sharply pointed pectoral or dorsal spines. Some species even have glands at the base of these spines that secrete a toxin and can produce a painful reaction in anyone who is "stuck" by one of these spines.
History
It isn't hard to imagine pre-settlement Native Americans gathering to see huge catfish caught from Missouri’s rivers. When the settlers arrived, they commonly pulled catfish weighing more than 100 pounds from Missouri’s rivers and streams. Missouri's nineteenth-century history is full of such accounts.
For example, in 1854 P. R. Hoy wrote to the Smithsonian Institute about a 136-pound catfish caught from Grand River near Chillicothe. In November 1879, Dr. J. G. W. Steedman, chairman of the Missouri Fish Commission, received a request from the United States National Museum for a large Mississippi River catfish. He sent a reply accompanying the fish: "Your letter requesting the shipment to you of a large Mississippi Catfish was received this morning. Upon visiting our market this P.M., I luckily found two–one of 144 pounds, the other 150 pounds. The latter I ship to you by express." Captain William L. Heckman, in his book Steamboating Sixty-five Years on Missouri’s Rivers, mentions a 315-pound blue catfish pulled from the Missouri River near Morrison.
In the years since these accounts, unrestricted harvest and habitat alterations such as channelization kept catfish from reaching their full growth potential. Recent management efforts have made large catfish more common. Our hope is that, one day, 100-pound catfish may be fairly common again.
Diversity and Distribution
Missouri is home to 15 native species of catfish, including channel catfish, blue catfish, flathead catfish and three species of bullheads. Black and yellow bullheads are common across the state. The only confirmed, self-sustaining population of brown bullheads is at Duck Creek Conservation Area and the adjoining Mingo National Wildlife Refuge in southeast Missouri. Though overlooked by many anglers, bullheads are eager biters and taste great. They provide lots of angling pleasure for many Missourians.
The remaining nine native species are collectively referred to as "madtoms." These small, secretive catfish live primarily in our small streams, and they rarely exceed 6 inches in length. You won't see them unless you make a special effort to catch them. Read more about madtoms here.
