Daily Bag Limit » Missouri

Taking Fishing A Bit Too Far?

Tom Remington — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 14:23:18 +0000

It might appear that a Missouri man was taking his fishing too far when he accused a teenager of stealing fishing poles from a friend but I think it was the idea of just stealing. Regardless, 23-year old Tommy Haugen, is dead as the result of a fight over the fishing poles and Butler County Sheriff office is holding a 17-year old suspect. More here.

Tom Remington

Noodling Could End In Missouri

Tom Remington — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 13:07:24 +0000

Noodling is catching catfish by hand. The fisherman walks around sticking his feet into underwater caves and crevices where breeding catfish hide. Often times the fishermen will work in pairs. One will block the escape route while the other makes the dive in an attempt to get the fish to latch onto his hand. If successful, the fish is pulled from the water, sometimes weighing up to 100 pounds.

Noodling is legal in several states, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Illinois to name a few, but Missouri allowed an experimental season back in 2005. Now some are saying that too many breeding catfish are being caught which in turn is making it harder for out of the water fishermen to catch catfish.

“They’re catching too many, so we can’t catch any,” said Howard Ramsey, of Paris, Mo., president of Noodlers Anonymous, in a reference to Missourians who prefer to keep their hands outside the water when fishing.

Attempts in the past to expand on noodling, lengthening the season and adding more waters to fish, passed through the Missouri House and Senate but never became law. Some think conservation isn’t part of the equation, only politics.

State Rep. Steve Hobbs, R-Mexico, said he plans to renew those legislative efforts and take his complaints directly to Gov. Matt Blunt once the Legislature returns next week from its spring recess.

“I’m very disappointed,” he said Wednesday. “Conservation has never been a willing participant in this experiment. They had their minds made up way before any study was done.”

The Conservation Department committee will meet April 3 in Jefferson to consider a permanent ban on noodling.

Tom Remington

Hooked On Indian Artifacts Fishing

Tom Remington — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 14:26:58 +0000

A Missouri man and his two young sons went Indian artifacts hunting and found something no one expected. An old fishing hook about the size of the palm of your hand – made of bone. The find was along a stretch of the Missouri River. Some have said the hook could be anywhere from 300 – 12,000 years old. Read the story here.

Tom Remington

Missouri Has More Dead Fish Than Usual

Tom Remington — Fri, 28 Apr 2006 16:34:39 +0000

Spring is here and dead fish show up often times around streams and lakes all across many northern states. Missouri officials are saying though that they are getting several more calls each week from people reporting dead fish – sometimes as many as 50-100 at a time (dead fish not calls).

According to an article in the Belleview News Democrat by the Associated Press, fish experts say they are finding nothing out of the ordinary except what is probably being caused by weather.

The department said Missouri’s waters have been affected by an unusually dry, warm spring. Water temperatures are higher than normal, and water levels in streams and reservoirs are below normal, especially in southwest Missouri. Water quality is worse than usual, and fish are crowded into less space.

A common occurance in the spring from parasites also causes fish deaths.

In many cases, reports have involved dead fish with an advanced growth of bacteria or fungus covering their bodies. Spring fish kills usually happen when external parasites damage the skin or gills of fish, leading to bacterial infections.

An official with the Conservation Department explained what transformations take place for fish in the spring of the year and why there are always some level of mortality.

Conservation Department fish pathologist Devona Weirich said that while the number of fish kills this spring is unusual, the phenomenon itself is not.

“Fish experience a lot of stress in the spring,” Weirich said. “They often haven’t eaten very well during the winter, and they go right into spawning, which can be exhausting. Their immune systems are very weak, and this results in some fish dying.”

Fish officials say all reports and indications from their investigations show no abnormal amounts of pollution or any other environmental situations that have attributed to the increased kill. They say it is simply “natural”.

Tom Remington

What’s The Number One Choice of Fish to Catch?

Tom Remington — Thu, 13 Apr 2006 12:37:28 +0000

Like there’s really a consensus answer on that question! Everyone has their favorite fish to catch but often times you’ll find someone who prefers something specific on the end of their line and they’ll go to no ends to let you know about it. But more often than not, avid fishermen will just tell you that they will catch anything. The challenge is there and the thrill of the catch never goes away.

Missouri has some real fine fishing, especially in the Ozarks and fisherman/writer Steve Brigman takes a stab at what he thinks are his top 10 fish to catch. I’ll let you know that he decided to not include any saltwater fish and he stuck pretty closely to fish he can catch in the streams around the Ozarks as that’s where he spends a lot of time.

I won’t tell you what number one is but I will say to all you die-hard trout fishermen, you might be surprised.

Tom Remington

Hey, Doc! Isn’t That a Sturgeon?

Tom Remington — Tue, 07 Mar 2006 23:13:53 +0000

Missouri wildlife officials have caught three pallid sturgeons, a reptilian looking, shovel-snouted fish, that is endangered. They hope to breed them in captivity and then return the young to the river where the adults were caught.

The fish were caught on the Missouri River near the Kansas City area. The fish is a throwback to the pre-historic days in its appearance. They can grow up to 6 feet in length, weigh over 100 lbs. and live for 60 years.

The idea is to be able to extract the fish from the river and return the offspring back were the adult fish were removed in hopes of increasing the chances of survival.

Tom Remington

Trout Season Opens To Warmth

Tom Remington — Thu, 02 Mar 2006 16:36:48 +0000

Officially the trout season opened in Missouri at some of its parks yesterday at the sound of a loud horn. But what surprised most anglers was the temperature outside. Many places the temps were in the 60s at the opening bell in the wee hours of the morning and by midday it was above 80.

Overall, it was a good day to play hooky from school or work but the crowds that turned out didn’t set any new attendance records.

Tom Remington