Catching blue Catfish on lake of the ozarks!

April 3 was a fantastic day to catch blue catfish on Lake of the Ozarks!   The catfish are biting and they're now in shallower water (10-20 feet of water) and gorging themselves on large schools of gizzard shad.  You can readily catch blue catfish on cut shad using rod and reel or catfish jugs.  Blue catfish are great table fare and they're  pursued by many anglers at Lake of the Ozarks.  Three anglers caught 37 blue catfish.  27 were of legal size to keep and 10 fish that measured "in the slot" (26-34 inches of length) were released unharmed.  Releasing blue catfish in the protected slot is a great tactic to protect the future of the fishery as this keeps a good population of breeding fish in the fishery.   We utilize size 9 circle hooks so the fish are hooked in the lip and therefore don't get deep hooked which adversely impacts fish survival.  We prefer to utilze sizable chunks of cut gizzard shad to catch Lake of the Ozarks blue catfish.  Give Barber Fishing Guide Service a call and we'll put you on some nice blue catfish!