Doves, places to hunt them plentiful in Missouri

The Conservation Department manages fields especially for

doves and hunters. The birds get credit for their own abundance.

JEFFERSON CITY–For many Missourians, the opening of dove season on Sept. 1 marks the start of hunting season, and the state’s top mourning dove expert says this year’s season is full of promise.

Approximately 33,000 people hunt doves in the Show-Me State. Resource Scientist John Schulz says the mourning dove not only is the state’s most popular game bird, it is the most democratic, attracting hunters from every walk of life.

This popularity results from the mourning dove’s prolific nature. A pair of doves can easily raise six broods of two chicks each nesting season, starting as early as March and persevering well into September. Population surveys conducted in May and June showed a slight drop in dove numbers, but Schulz said this is nothing for hunters to worry about.

“You have to keep in mind that those surveys are a snapshot in time,” said Schulz. “When they were conducted we were having a lot of heavy rain. That may have caused a decrease in early hatching, but a lot can change between June 1 and Sept. 1.”

Schulz said reports he gets from around the state indicate an abundance of doves, and he sees plenty of doves wherever he goes.

“I’m seeing birds everywhere, and I’m hearing the same thing from people all around the state. If things stay like they are, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a very good harvest this year.”

Abundance does not guarantee quality hunting, however. Hunters can spend hours in the field and only see a handful of doves, mostly too far away for a shot, unless something draws the birds into a small area. That “something” usually is an agricultural field. Doves have a strong preference for landing on bare ground, and they love to eat sunflowers, corn, wheat, sorghum and other grain left in crop fields after harvest. The first fields harvested each year attract astonishing numbers of doves.

Knowing this, the Conservation Department arranges to have sunflowers and other crops planted on 150 fields at 90 areas around the state. The fields total approximately 5,000 acres. These fields are managed to offer abundant food for doves and maximum opportunity for hunters.

“When people ask me how to find a dove hunting spot, I ask them how theycouldn’t find one,” said Schulz. “We go out of our way to make sure there’s a managed dove field near almost everybody who wants to go dove hunting.”

He said hunters can call any Conservation Department office to learn the location of managed dove fields or use the interactive locator map athttp://bit.ly/cSBEJn.

He offered one caution about the Conservation Department’s managed dove fields. Repeated heavy rains early in the summer hampered planting and growth of crops on some fields. Hunters should visit fields they want to hunt beforehand or at least call area managers for up-to-date information about field condition. Contact information for area managers is available through the Conservation Atlas database at http://bit.ly/1h2XwO.

Schulz also had advice for hunters who enjoy the challenge of finding their own, private dove-hunting spots. The obvious choice is to get permission from a farmer who has a harvested crop field. Some farmers do still welcome hunters, but the days of easy permission are past.

“It’s not 1965 anymore, and Aunt Bea isn’t in the kitchen baking peach cobbler,” said Schulz. “If you want to hunt farm ground today, you usually have to know the farmers or take time to build relationships with them.”

Other options are available, however. Hunters who understand doves’ habits and preferences sometimes can locate spots as productive as any managed dove field.

Doves like open ground, seeds, perching sites and water. Any spot that combines two or more of these elements can be an excellent hunting spot. An abandoned gravel road, an old airstrip or parking lot is a start. A pond with a wide margin of bare soil or mud is another possibility. Add a telephone line or some dead trees for perching, and you have a dove magnet.

“Say you have an old roadbed with foxtail and other weeds growing beside the pavement. The weeds drop their seeds, and maybe there are some low spots that catch rainfall. Birds can fly down to pick up seeds, flutter over a short distance for a drink, then fly back up to perch and digest their meal. A place like that can be just as good as a managed dove field.”

The Conservation Department bands approximately 2,500 birds annually as part of a nationwide effort to create a dove-management database. Approximately 12 percent of those doves are recovered and reported, mostly by hunters. Schulz said the most important thing dove hunters can do to improve their sport is to check every bird they shoot for a leg band and report any they find atwww.reportband.gov/ or by calling 800-327-BAND (2263).

“Data from band recoveries drive a wide array of analytical processes that directly affect how we establish mourning dove regulations each year,” said Schulz. “By reporting band numbers, hunters are helping manage our dove resource for future generations.”

He said a small number of hunters are asked to take part in the National Mourning Dove Hunter Wing Survey each year. Under this program, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) gives hunters pre-paid mailers in which to send wings from doves they shoot to the annual National Mourning Dove Wing Bee in Kansas City. Biologists from around the nation gather there to examine wings for age and other characteristics.

Statistics from conservation areas where the Conservation Department records the number of doves killed and the number of shots fired show that hunters fire an average of five shots per dove. If you kill a limit of 15 doves with fewer than three boxes of shotgun shells, pat yourself on the back for being an above-average wingshot.

Then pick up all the empty hulls littering the ground around you. Leaving them in the field is littering, and could earn you a ticket.

-Jim Low-

For Great Missouri Public Lands Hunting, visit Missouri Public Lands Hunting

Also, see Dove Hunting Tips

AUGUST 19 AND 20 MEETINGS OF THE MISSOURI CONSERVATION COMMISSION

Conservation Department Headquarters

2901 West Truman Boulevard, Jefferson City, Missouri

Thursday, August 19, 2010 – 2:30 p.m. – Executive Session (Closed)

Friday, August 20, 2010 – 8:30 a.m. – Regular Open Meeting

TENTATIVE AGENDA

(Background documents related to each agenda item are available for public viewing at Conservation Department Headquarters, Jefferson City, for an 8-day period prior to the meeting. Any person who would like to comment to the Commission about a specific agenda item must make a written request to the Director at least four calendar days prior to the meeting. Speakers will be limited to five minutes each, a total of 15 minutes per each agenda item.)

Thursday, August 19, 2:30 p.m.

Executive Session (Vote to go into closed session – reconvene open meeting at 8:30 a.m. on Friday, August 20):

(1)        Call to order and approval of minutes of previous Executive Session. (610.021 RSMo.)

(2)        Consideration of negotiated contracts. (Documents related to a negotiated contract, 610.021(12) RSMo.)

(3)        Update on potential real estate transactions/negotiations. (Leasing, purchase or sale of real estate, 610.021(2) RSMo.)

(4)        Consideration of supporting documentation for recommendation to suspend or revoke all hunting and fishing privileges of individuals who are juveniles or who are not in compliance with applicable child support laws. Action to be taken in open meeting. (Disclosure protected by law, 610.021(14), 454.440.9, 211.321, RSMo.)

(5)        Consideration of confidential or privileged communications between the Commission and its Internal Auditor regarding work product. (Communications between public governmental body and its auditor, 610.021(17) RSMo.)

(6)        Consideration of recommendation relating to the hiring/firing/disciplining/promoting of personnel. (Hiring, firing, disciplining or promoting, 610.021(3) RSMo.)

(7)        Consideration of legal actions and attorney-client privileged communications involving the Conservation Commission. (Legal actions, causes of action or litigation, 610.021(1) RSMo.)

Friday, August 20, 8:30 a.m. – Regular Open Meeting:

Approval of minutes of previous meeting.

Consideration of the Report of the Regulations Committee, which includes recommendations for the 2010-2011 waterfowl hunting season and changes to the 2011 Wildlife Code. 

Presentations:

9:00 a.m.         Design & Development Division Report – Design & Development Division Chief Jacob Careaga.

9:15 a.m.         Fishers & Farmers Partnership – Fisheries Division Chief Chris Vitello.

10:00 a.m.       Presentation of Employee Service Awards and Special Awards.

Consideration of 1) Major Construction/Development Projects Status Report; and 2) bids received for the construction of the Eminence City Park Access Development Project located in Shannon County, and authorization to enter into a contract with the low bidder.

Consideration of Fiscal Year 2010 Year-End Review of Revenue and Expenditure Trends and July Monthly Financial Summary.

Recommendation for authorization to seek: (1) executive operating lump sum spending authority of $145,534,841 for fiscal year 2012; (2) capital improvement biennial spending authority of $44,000,000 for fiscal years 2012 and 2013; (3) reauthorization of the fiscal year 2011 federal stimulus and capital improvement appropriations; and (4); appropriations to other state agencies from the Conservation Commission Fund for fiscal year 2011 for related operational expenditures.

Recommendations for approval of 1) personnel reclassifications; and 2) change to employee retirement contribution rate to Missouri State Employees’ Retirement System (MOSERS) for employees hired after January 1, 2011.

Quarterly Update of Conservation Employees’ Benefits Plan Trust Fund.

Presentation: 

Forest and Woodland Management on Lands Held in Public Trust – Forestry Division Chief Lisa Allen.

Recommendation for authorization to advertise and sell an estimated 846,000 board feet of timber located on 241 acres of Compartment 4, Fourche Creek Conservation Area in Ripley County.

Recommendation for approval to purchase 171 acres in Jefferson County as an addition to LaBarque Creek Conservation Area in Jefferson County.

Recommendations for approval to suspend or revoke: 1) one or more hunting, fishing and trapping privileges of individuals for cause; 2) all hunting and fishing privileges of individuals who are not in compliance with applicable child support laws; 3) one or more hunting, fishing and trapping privileges of individuals in accordance with the terms of the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact; and 4) hunting privileges of individuals who inflicted injury to another person while hunting

Announcement of actions taken in executive session, if any.

Other matters of interest.

Confirmation that the next regular meeting will be held on October 14-15, 2010, at Kirksville.

MDC to hold public meetings on potential elk restoration

MDC will hold meetings in counties around restoration zone and is seeking public comment.

JEFFERSON CITY Mo – As part of its efforts to obtain public input regarding potential elk restoration in a limited area of Carter, Reynolds and Shannon counties, the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) will hold the following public meetings:

Monday, Aug. 23, 5-8 p.m. – Van Buren High School Cafeteria, 202 W. College

Tuesday, Aug. 24, 5-8 p.m. – Eminence High School “Old” Gym, 1 Redwing Drive

Thursday, Aug. 26, 5-8 p.m. – Ellington High School Multi-Purpose Room, 1 School St.

“The successful management of Missouri’s fish, forests and wildlife, including possible elk restoration, involves partnerships with citizens, organizations and other agencies,” said MDC Director Bob Ziehmer. “We value public input and are gathering public comments as we work to develop an elk restoration plan for the Conservation Commission."  

In addition to the public meetings, the MDC is seeking written comments by Oct. 1. Comments can be emailed to www.mdc.mo.gov/contact-us under “Elk Restoration Comments” or mailed to Missouri Department of Conservation, Director’s Office, PO Box 180, Jefferson City MO 65102-0180.

The MDC is considering elk restoration for several reasons, including requests to restore the once-native species, the ecological benefits from native-species restoration and economic benefits to Missouri through tourism and hunting.

Elk once ranged throughout Missouri. Over-harvest and habitat destruction eliminated this native species from the state by the late 1800s.

Prompted by requests from Missourians and conservation organizations, the MDC conducted a feasibility study on elk restoration in 2000. The study identified an area in the Ozarks around the Peck Ranch Conservation Area as a potential restoration zone. The zone, covering parts of Carter, Shannon and Reynolds counties, has suitable habitat, high public-land ownership, low road densities and limited agriculture activity.

Due to disease and habitat concerns, the Commission suspended the Department’s consideration of an elk restoration in 2001, and directed staff to facilitate additional discussion to determine if concerns regarding elk restoration could be addressed to the satisfaction of citizens.

Renewed interest from citizens and conservation organizations, along with elk restoration success in other states, recently prompted the Commission to revisit the topic. Following a period of public comment ending Oct. 1, MDC staff will present a proposed elk restoration plan to the Commission at its meeting Oct. 15 in Jefferson City.

Ziehmer noted that key points about the MDC’s efforts to restore elk in Missouri are:

·        Elk is a native species to Missouri, and restoring native species holds many benefits.

·        Elk restoration will be limited to a targeted restoration zone in southeast Missouri.

·        Elk restoration will include herd-management guidelines, with hunting as the primary tool to maintain an appropriate population.

·        Elk restoration will include health protocols, such as disease testing, to ensure the health of domestic livestock and other wildlife.

·        Elk restoration will include plans for dealing with elk that wander where they are not welcome.

·        Elk restoration in other states has provided resource and economic benefits.

Additional information on the MDC’s proposed elk restoration efforts can be found online at www.missouriconservation.org by searching “elk restoration.”

-Joe Jerek -


Visit Family-Outdoors for Missouri Hunting and Fishing Information

Profile: Union Ridge Conservation Area

Union Ridge Conservation Area is in the heart of Missouri's best whitetail deer hunting territory. It is not far from Kirksville, on Route D, two miles north of Greencastle.  In addition to being an area rich in deer hunting potential, it also is a beautiful area to hike, hunt other game, or even fish.  There is even enough room in its over 8000 acres to get back and do a little camping.

Deer Hunting at Union Ridge
First of all, there are rather strict regulations in place on this property for deer hunting.  This is likely due to the heavy pressure that the area has seen, and a fear that the population would be essentially eliminated.

At the writing of this article (and regulations have not changed much if any over the past few years), the regs called for antlered deer only and of course the 4-point restriction is in place.  For more detailed information on hunting regs, visit the links below.

For some hunters, these regulations may be a great opportunity.  Anything that makes hunting more difficult in an area tends to whittle down the number of hunters.  For the hunter who can scout the area thoroughly, and is willing to get way off the beaten path, this area holds some very large deer.  For scouting tips visit Scouting Missouri Public Lands Using Google Earth.

Other Species Hunting at Union Ridge
Pheasant quail and turkey enjoy fair populations.  Rabbits and squirrels have good populations.  There are special regulations ion place on some of these species.  See link below for more information.

Fishing
This area contains fair populations of bass, crappie, sunfish, and catfish.  They can be found in Union Ridge Lake (11 acres) as well as Ponds 1 and 2 (.3 and .1 acres respectively).

Camping
Camping is allowed in Union Ridge Conservation Area.  The areas around parking lots fill quickly during the firearms deer season.  See the regulations at the link below for more information.

Union Ridge is a truly beautiful and fairly remote area.  Whether you are visiting for the hunting or fishing opportunities, or just to get outdoors, you cannot go wrong in this area.  It is really one of the Conservation Area gems in northern Missouri.

Contact Information:
 660-785-2420
Union Ridge Conservation Area Map
Union Ridge Conservation Area Brochure
Union Rodge Conservation Area Regs


*For comprehensive research on hunting areas on Missouri public land, visit Missouri Public Hunting.  Here you will find links to pages with Missouri Conservation Areas divided by county.  These pages also list game populations present on the property.  They were designed to assist hunters to hone in on an area to hunt.  Additionally, you will find a Mark Twain National Forest Hunting page

Share the Harvest donations top 2 million pounds

Since 1992, Missouri hunters have donated more than 2 million pounds of venison to the needy through local Share the Harvest programs. Many areas still do not have donation programs, however. For information about how to get started, visit mdc.mo.gov/hunt/deer/share/, call 573-634-2322, or e-mail mofed@socket.net.

 (Missouri Department of Conservation photo)

This year alone, needy Missourians received more than

100 tons of lean, red meat through the venison donation program.

JEFFERSON CITY— Hunters donated more than a quarter of a million pounds of venison to needy Missourians during the 2009-2010 hunting season, pushing the total for the program to more than 2 million pounds. Program coordinator David Murphy says he would like to see that much donated annually.

–Hunters donated more than a quarter of a million pounds of venison to needy Missourians during the 2009-2010 hunting season, pushing the cumulative total for the Share the Harvest (STH) program to more than 2 million pounds.  Program coordinator David Murphy says he would like to see that much donated annually.

Now in its 18^th year, Share the Harvest orchestrates the efforts of thousands of hunters, local organizations and meat processors to get ground venison to people in need. In its first year, the program collected several hundred pounds of venison. The program grew rapidly after the Conservation Federation of Missouri and the Conservation Department adopted it. Today, Share the Harvest nets more than 200,000 pounds of venison yearly.

This year’s final tally was more than 252,000 pounds. More than 5,000 hunters donated meat through more than 100 participating meat processors in approximately 74 counties.

Providing enough protein, especially meat, for needy Missourians is one of charitable organizations’ biggest challenges. Share the Harvest allows hunters to donate whole deer at little or no cost, making a mountain of lean red meat available to community food banks, Salvation Army units and other charities.

 “It’s an amazing partnership that benefits Missouri in so many ways,” says Murphy, the Conservation Federation’s executive director. “Needy Missourians get high-quality protein. The Conservation Department gets help managing the state’s deer herd. That helps reduce problems with deer-vehicle accidents and crop damage, and it keeps the deer herd healthy by preventing overpopulation.”

Murphy says there is no reason why Share the Harvest could not collect millions of pounds of venison each year. He says boosting venison donations above the million-pound mark is “just a matter of organization and fundraising.”

 “Share the Harvest is a grassroots effort at heart," says Murphy. "Local sponsors work out the practical details of where hunters bring deer, how deer get processed, how the processing is paid for and who gets the meat. We are just here to make it possible. Local people make it happen. We still have more than 30 counties without local Share the Harvest programs, and a lot of the counties that already have programs could easily support additional ones. There is plenty of room to grow."

Murphy said there still is time to organize charities, churches, civic clubs, sportsmen’s groups, meat processors, financial supporters and local news media to form a local Share the Harvest effort. For information about how to get started, visit mdc.mo.gov/hunt/deer/share/, call 573-634-2322, or e-mail mofed@socket.net.

-Jim Low-

Profile: Big Creek Conservation Area

Most of the information found in this profile is gleaned from the MDC.  The value, I hope, in doing these profiles is that I am giving the reader a synopsis of all major activities at the property.  The reader can then go to the MDC Atlas, or to do research for hunting purposes, we suggest our sister site's Missouri Public Hunting Page.

Big Creek Conservation Area is adjacent to the west side of the City of Kirksville, accessible via Royal Oaks Drive, Rainbow Basin Trail or West Michigan St.  This area is adjacent to Thousand Hills State Park and is the jumping off point for trails in the area.  The conservation area is 1064 acres and is adjoined with Thousand Hills State park for a total of just over 4,000 acres. 

Fishing

There are three ponds listed as "fair" for bass, catfish, and sunfish.  Catfish are apparently found only in Pond 6.  Bass and sunfish are found in Ponds 5,6, and 7. There are special regulations for fishing in effect for this area.

Hunting
There reportedly good populations for deer as well as squirrels, while turkey and rabbits are reportedly present in fair numbers.  At the time of this writing, regulations allowed for muzzle loader and archery deer hunting under special regulations.  There were also special regulations for other species in place as well. Portable tree stands were allowed, with the caveat that if left in place during the season they must be plainly labelled "with the full name and address or Conservation number of the owner and be removed from the area by February 1st." 

Camping
Camping is allowed in Big Creek Conservation Area.  Camping allowed on or adjacent to area parking lots. No camping along roadways. No amenities provided.

Contact Information
Big Creek Conservation Area
660-785-2420
Map
Brochure

*For comprehensive research on hunting areas on Missouri public land, visit Missouri Public Hunting.  Here you will find links to pages with Missouri Conservation Areas divided by county.  These pages also list game populations present on the property.  They were designed to assist hunters to hone in on an area to hunt.  Additionally, you will find a Mark Twain National Forest Hunting page

.

It’s raining records!

Closing the Missouri River to commercial

 harvest of catfish is paying hefty dividends.

MOKANE, Mo.–When it rains, it pours, according to the old saying, and July has produced a cloudburst of fishing records in Missouri. The Missouri Department of Conservation has certified three new fishing records so far this month. Two could be world records.

The first record catch came in early July, when John West, of Republic, caught a 58-pound, 10.4-ounce striped bass at Bull Shoals Lake in Taney County. The monster striper measured just a shade over 48 inches from nose to tail and had a girth of 34.25 inches. The fish inhaled a 6-inch swim bait that West, 37, was casting from the bank with a spinning rod and reel. A swim bait is a soft-bodied lure rigged with a weighted hook.

Friends introduced West to striper fishing three years ago. They were fishing together on the rainy evening of July 8. West was tired from casting the big, heavy lure and decided to make two or three more casts before starting the long trek back to his vehicle when the big striper struck. The fish felt bigger than any he had caught before. He assumed it was in the 30- to 40-pound range. His friends had caught several fish that size in recent weeks.

“He basically was fighting from the moment he hit my swim bait,” said West. “He pulled half the line off my spool before I started gaining on him.” He said his reel held 190 yards of 30-pound-test line.

“It was so foggy I couldn’t even tell where I was casting,” said West, “so I couldn’t see how big the fish was until I tried to land it and it wouldn’t fit in the net. We had to roll it up the bank to get it in, and then we all knew it was big.”

He and a friend took turns carrying the hefty fish, and when they put it in a 45-gallon cooler, it touched all four sides. That is when they knew it was “time to wake somebody up.”

They contacted Conservation Agent Quenten Fronterhouse. He and Shepherd of the Hills Fish Hatchery Manager Clint Hale certified the record.

“It took awhile for it all to soak in,” said West. “I was kind of in awe. I told my dad, if I caught a big one, I was going to grill it. But a state record, that’s a mounting trophy.”

The striped bass (Morone saxatilis) is an anadramous species, spending its adulthood in saltwater but returning to fresh water to spawn. They are not native to Missouri, but have adapted well to fresh-water reservoirs and streams. Ocean-run striped bass can grow to 6 feet long and 125 pounds.

The International Game Fish Association (IGFA) all-tackle record striped bass came from the Atlantic Ocean and weighed 78 pounds, 8 ounces. The current IGFA 30-pound line-class record for inland waters is 47 pounds, 11 ounces. That makes West’s fish a shoo-in for a world record if his catch meets the IGFA’s stringent requirements.

The second record catch – a blue catfish – came in the early hours of July 20 on the Missouri River near Columbia Bottom Conservation Area, just north of St. Louis. Greg Bernal, of Florissant, and his friend, Janet Momphard, of St. Charles, started fishing just after sunset. They fished one place until 12:30 a.m. Nothing much was happening, so they moved to another spot and anchored about 100 feet from shore. Bernal, 47, noticed that the weather was turning ugly.

“There was a serious storm blowing in, with lightning all over the place. I was ready to call it a night, but I figured I would troll around behind this dike, and see what shows up on the sonar. I spotted a couple of really big fish on the bottom in like 27 feet of water. So I decided to give it a shot until the storm got closer. I mean, who knows what could happen, and there it was! I set the hook on him at 12:45 a.m., and that reel just absolutely started screaming. He swam right under the boat, so I just kept reeling down and pulling him up. When he broke water I couldn’t believe it.”

It took Bernal only about 15 minutes to maneuver the huge fish up to the side of his 22-foot johnboat, but it took both him and Momphard another 30 minutes to hoist the fish over the gunwale.

“The first net was not deep enough,” said Bernal, “because the fish was almost 5 feet long. I finally told Janet I was not going to get it in this net. She was going to have to get the other deep net out of the front of the boat.”

Momphard lost precious moments untangling the second net from the boat’s trolling motor and other gear.

“All the time, I’ve got this big fish on the end of my line without even being in a net. So I got him in the first net and he tore a big hole in it and so I had to get the second one and come at him from his head before we could actually get him wrapped up and try and get him in the boat.”

 Bernal’s 40-pound monofilament line held, and with the nets in place, Bernal and Momphard tried repeatedly to lift the fish. They succeeded on the fourth try.

It was 10:30 a.m. before Bernal got his fish to a certified scale to verify his catch. Fisheries Management Biologist Sarah Peper certified the record.

“We get a lot of calls from people who think they have a record,” said Peper, “but it always seems to turn out to be a different species than they thought, or it doesn’t weigh as much as they thought. As soon as we saw this fish, we were thinking it would be a state record probably and who knows, it might even be the world record. When we got it down to the feed store, Mr. (Jim) Blair was the weighmaster for our official weighing. When he kept sliding those weights over and he just kept going and going and going and going, and it finally balanced out at 130 pounds, we were all in shock. I weigh 109 pounds, so that fish was 21 pounds heavier than me.”

Peper took measurements and checked the fish for signs of how it had been taken, ensuring that it was a legitimate pole-and-line catch. The fish measured 57 inches long and had a girth of 45 inches. Then she compared its length, girth and weight against those of blue catfish of similar size to establish that the weight was credible.

Peper noted that the fish had been out of the water for nine hours and had been dead for much of that time.

“Fish lose weight after they die,” she said. “This fish may have weighed more than 130 pounds when it was alive.”

Bernal’s fish topped Missouri’s previous blue catfish record by 27 pounds. The state-record blue catfish caught by means other than pole and line is a 117-pound fish taken from the Osage River in 1964.  The current IGFA all-tackle record blue catfish is a 124-pounder taken from the Mississippi River near Alton, Ill.

July’s third record fish was a 99-pound flathead catfish caught three days after Bernal’s monster blue. Robert Neal Davidson, of Mokane, was with his father, James L. Davidson, and his 9-year-old son, Drake Neal Davidson, when he landed the fish. It was touch and go for a while, however.

Robert, 44, is a construction inspector for the Missouri Department of Transportation. He has been too busy to do much fishing lately, but he took Friday off to fish with dad and son. They took a 47.5-pound blue catfish off a pole first thing in the morning, which got all three of the anglers excited. When they got to their last line, it was under a log, with the pole bent over.

“Dad was running the boat,” said Robert, “and when he eased up alongside it, I got ahold of the line and started running my hands down it. I had no idea there was a fish on it. I thought about cutting the line, but instead I pulled the pole out of the bank, and dad backed the boat out into the river. The fish swam out from underneath that log and the fight was on.

“I’m holding onto the pole, fighting him like you would with a rod and reel but all I’ve got is this big fiberglass pole. We went half a mile downriver before I finally wore him out.

“When he surfaced, I knew I was looking at the biggest flathead I had ever seen. I gaffed him and could not get him in the boat, so I went down on my knees and stuck my arm through his mouth and gills and grabbed the rest of his body and got him over the side and into the boat. It was quite an ordeal. Without dad, we wouldn’t have gotten the fish. It was kind of a team effort.”

Young Drake watched in wonder while the two older Davidsons worked to land the behemoth.  Later he told his father he was so excited he was shaking.

Davidson caught the record flathead using a green sunfish for bait. It had a girth of 35 inches.

Missouri’s previous record for a flathead catfish caught by methods other than a hand-held line was a 94-pound fish caught from the St. Francis River in 1971. The pole-and-line record is 77.5 pounds. The IGFA all-tackle flathead catfish record (also for pole-and-line catches) is a 123-pound fish caught at Elk City Reservoir in Kansas.

The Conservation Department stopped commercial harvest of catfish on the Missouri River in 1992. Since then, several catfish in the 80- to 100-pound range have been taken by sport anglers in Missouri’s stretch of the river. Today the lower Missouri River is among the nation’s top trophy catfish waters.

“Having two state record catfish caught three days apart proves the wisdom of past management decisions,” said Conservation Department Fisheries Division Chief Chris Vitello. “The Missouri River is one of several fisheries in Missouri with the potential to produce huge catfish. Given a chance to grow, blue and flathead cats can reach sizes that make even the most experienced angler’s heart race.”

Striped bass can live 30 years. Catfish (Ictalurus furcatus) live even longer. Conservation Department fisheries biologists say Bernal’s fish probably was between 20 and 30 years old. Fish continue to grow throughout their lives, and some historic accounts record Missouri River catfish as large as 300 pounds.

The Conservation Department keeps records in two categories. The “pole-and-line” category is for fish taken on hand-held lines. “Alternative methods” include trotlines, throw lines, limb lines, bank lines, tree lines, jug lines, spearfishing, snagging, gigging, grabbing (with the use of a hook) and archery.

Entry forms and rules are available at mdc4.mdc.mo.gov/Documents/72.pdf. A list of Missouri fishing records is available at http://mdc4.mdc.mo.gov/Documents/69.pdf. The Conservation Department also has a Master Angler Program to recognize notable catches that fall short of records. For qualifying lengths and weights, visit http://mdc4.mdc.mo.gov/Documents/71.pdf.

-Jim Low-

Missouri Smallmouth Fishing Information Central