Paddlefish & Blue Cats

[Barbelboy]

A buddy and I decided to take a trip down south to MO to participate in the snagging season. Talk about fun! These two are 45lb and 50lb. We also put about 20 blue cats and channel cats in the boat, nothing big, but it's a heck of a way to start the open water season!

[JimBuck]

Wow. Awesome fish. I'd love to give that a shot sometime. So there is a limited snagging season in MO. huh? For some reason I thought people could do it all year long. Thanks for sharing.

[The J-Man!]

Thanks for the pics. Those are some big Paddlefish!

[mainbutter]

wowee! Snagging can truly be an art form despite what some people may think

[Barbelboy]

Jimbuck,

Yes there is a specific season. Mostly it's based on their movement into the rivers to spawn. Dams prevent that in most places of MO so they are stocked. Several states have open seasons for paddlefish. Mainbutter is right. There were as many different techniques as there were boats on the water.

[Scott K]

Approx where abouts were you fishing?

[Barbelboy]

Lake of the ozarks, between mile markers 40-90. Not very approximate, but that's a beautiful 50 miles of river/reservoir! Lots of places to go down there. LOZ, truman, bull shoals, Miss river, Missouri river, ect. MO DNR is full of info.

Having never done it I had to learn online and apply the techniques first hand. Observing the others around me and talking to locals really helped too! The catfishing down there is darn good too! I had never caught a blue cat before, so that was really fun.

[Shack]

Nice report Barbelboy!

[Scott K]

Thanks, I will be down there for a week this summer and I was wanting to give it a try some night. Are there public shore spots around, or is it boat only?

[Barbelboy]

Depends on what you want to try. Snagging season for paddlefish in MO runs from about March 15-April 30. Each river/reservoir has it's own regs. As for cats, you'll find lots of places to fish from shore. Like always a boat gives you a lot more options, but you'll definitely have an excellent chance to catch cats from shore. Where are you headed? I can give you some info on Lake of the Ozarks, but I won't be much help for anywhere else. The MO DNR has a very good web page and a weekly fishing report also. Do some internet searching and you'll find lots of info. If you've got the $$ a guide never hurts either.

[Scott K]

I will be in Kansas City for a week in July, and would love to find a shore spot within an hour or so drive. I would be fishing for cats. I will check out the MO DNR HSOforum. Thanks for the info.

[DTro]

8 more days!

[Barbelboy]

I envy you guys. I had a great time down there even if it was 15 degrees colder than MN was and we had tornados!

Closest places I could suggest that I am familar with would be truman lake or lake of the ozarks. That's the area I visited 2 weeks ago. But there are likely spots closer to KC. I know I'm not much help, but this year was my first trip to MO.