8/5/22 Missouri Department of Conservation jugging results

Friday, August 5, 2022

See some updates from the Truman Lake Fisheries Management Biologist regarding the beginning of the blue catfish slot study!

After what has been a long wait for many of us, this week marked the first week of the blue catfish slot limit evaluation on Truman Lake. I only got out yesterday but there has been a crew or two out most of the week.

Wednesday they set 50 juglines off the point near the Berry Bend campground. They tended the lines for a few hours yesterday and caught 39 blue catfish before leaving them overnight. I got out today and we caught another 33 blues and 1 channel catfish for a total of 72 blues in about 24 hours on 50 hooks. It seems the fish might be biting. Most of the hooks were sitting down 10 feet deep.

As far as how many were in the slot, not sure exactly, but they were mostly under the slot with only a few fish over 30″. But I think location makes a big difference on Truman. My dad and sister set jugs early this week and I don’t think they caught a fish under 30″ and they had several overs.

This will be an ongoing study for a while. We plan to sample 30-40 sites each year for the next three years. But my thoughts on the population… the blue catfish are generally growing very slowly and people need to keep small catfish, the smaller the better (for the population).

-Chris Brooke, Truman Lake Fisheries Management Biologist