I don't like to answer a question with a question, but sometimes there's no other option. For example, the only honest response to "Can you Show Me Missouri catfish?" is to ask, "What type of catfish would you like to be shown?"

Here's what I mean. Many Missouri catfishermen consider the state to be home to three species of catfish which grow large enough to be of interest: the channel cat, the blue cat and the flathead. Yet other anglers would insist that the black bullhead, yellow bullhead and brown bullhead be added to the list. To further complicate matters, the behavior patterns of "small" (1- to 3-pound) channels, blues and flatheads are so different from those of 20-pound-plus "trophy" catfish that the latter are almost separate "species."

This report's purpose is to highlight representative locations where fishing for small and/or trophy cats of one or more of the three catfish species should be well above average in 2006 -- so let's get right to it.

BULLHEADS
With all due apologies to my fellow bullhead aficionados, Missouri's smallest sporting catfish will get short shrift in this report. Stream channelization, gravel mining, reservoir construction, soil erosion, non-point pollution and a host of other mostly human-created factors have not been kind to the bullhead. Even so, localized populations of decent-sized bullheads still exist in a few prairie streams and a handful of Missouri Department of Conservation impoundments. These fisheries are too delicate to withstand mention in print, but discovering one on your own can be more than worth the effort.

SMALL CHANNEL CATS
The coldest sections of spring-fed Ozark streams and "wet-weather" creeks in central and northern Missouri excepted, I'd be hard pressed to name a body of water in Missouri that doesn't have fishable numbers of small channel cats. That means, however, that catfishermen who enjoy the minimal hassle of light-tackle angling have the pleasant problem of sifting out the better and best fishing holes from the merely good. The following suggestions should point you in the right direction.

A majority of Missouri's citizens don't have to leave town to find good small channel catfish action. In cooperation with various city and county agencies, the MDC stocks dozens of "urban lakes" within the city limits of St. Louis and Kansas City with harvest-ready channel cats several times per year. These channel cat hotspots are within a short walk, bicycle ride or bus trip of millions of people.

Ponds and larger impoundments on MDC conservation areas are extremely popular with channel catfishermen for a number of reasons. For one thing, MDC impoundments are "accessible" in every sense of the word. MDC impoundments are located within an easy drive of every place in the state, and they have been designed to maximize opportunities for handicapped anglers, bank-anglers and boaters.