• HOME
• GENERAL STORE
• NATURAL HERITAGE
• HISTORY, CULTURE & CRAFTSMANSHIP
Natural Heritage
• Water Critters of the Ozarks
Natural Heritage Index

• Fishing
• Hunting
• Camping
• Conservation


• Hills & Hollows
• Rivers & Lakes
• Springs

• Caves
• Rocks & Fossils

• Trees & Shrubs
• Plants & Herbs

• Hill Critters
• Flyin' Critters
• Water Critters
• Snakes & Such

• Forgotten Critters
Fish are one of the main reasons Ozark tourism exists. Without the draw to lakes such as Bull Shoals, Tablerock and Taneycomo, it is unlikely the Branson show industry would have gotten started.

Maybe modern-day market analysts — contemplating Branson as a "Midwestern Las Vegas" — should spend a little more time contemplating the lowly black crappie or the freshwater drum.

________


An Ozark Critter List:

Black Crappie Pomoxis sp.
White Crappie Pomoxis sp.

Carp Cyprinus carpio
Freshwater Drum Aplodinotus grunniens

Rainbow Trout Oncorhynchus mykiss
Green Sunfish Lepomis cyanellus
Bluegill Lepomis macrochirus

Flathead Catfish Pylodictis olivaris
Channel Catfish Ictalurus punctatus
Black Bullhead Ameirus melas

Walleye Sander vitreus
White Bass Morone chrysops
Rock Bass Ambloplites rupestris

Spotted Bass M. punctulatus
Smallmouth Bass M. dolomieu
Largemouth Bass M. salmoides

Fish aren't the only critters in these lakes and rivers.

Spring Peeper Hyla crucifer.
Bullfrog Rana catesbeiana

Crawdad Astacidae sp.
River Mussel Unionidae sp.

Mudpuppy Nectarus maculosus
02/21/09, Rainbow trout Photo credit, J. Heston. Location: Maramec Spring State Park, St. James, Missouri
FISHING FOR CATS

The key to catching catfish in streams, creeks and rivers is to look for current breaks and present a natural bait in a natural manner to catfish that lie behind large rocks, boulders, stumps, brush and points that break the current.

To best present the bait, cast upstream with a light but strong line so the bait can wash downstream freely and naturally.

Keep a loose line as the bait drifts and watch for any indication of a cat taking your bait.

On big lakes, a great place to look for catfish is in the grooves in tailrace areas below hydroelectric plants.

A groove is where the current from two discharges collide. Put your bait on the bottom in the current and have it wash along the bottom naturally.

What do you use for bait?

Since catfish depend on their sense of smell, try worms, chicken liver, shrimp, prepared baits, home-grown stink baits, even hot dots.

— STACEY KING IS A 12-TIME BASSMASTERS CLASSIC QUALIFIER