Fishing Guide - Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks

FLATHEAD CATFISH As the name implies, this catfish has abroad, flat head with a jutting lower jaw. Also called the calico cat, theflathead is mottled brown to nearly yellow in color. Strictly predatory,the flathead is caught with live bait and occasionally lures, usuallyat night. The Kansas state record is also the world record. It wascaught in 1998 from Elk City Reservoir and weighed 123 pounds.BLACK BULLHEAD Smaller than the other, more sought-aftercatfishes, the bullhead is brown/green in color and doesn't havethe forked tail like the channel cat. Common in nearly all streams,lakes and ponds, the bullhead readily bites worms and stink baitand delights youngsters learning to fish. The world record is 8.94pounds. The state record is 7.33 pounds.JuvenileBLUE CATFISH The blue catfish looks much like the channel cat,except the blue has a humped back, a longer straight-edged anal fin,and grows bigger. Blues are native to several rivers in northeasternKansas including the Kansas and Missouri and have been stocked inseveral reservoirs. Blues are seldom caught on the concoctions usedfor channel cats, preferring cut or live bait. The largest blue cat onrecord weighed 121.5 pounds. The Kansas record weighed 94 pounds.CHANNEL CATFISH The channel catfish is the bread and butterof Kansas fishing. Found in nearly all waters from large riversand reservoirs to small prairie streams, good channel cat fishingis never far away. State lakes are also popular places to catchchannel cats. Department hatcheries produce millions of channelcats each year. The world record is 58 pounds. The staterecord channel cat weighed 36.5 pounds.WALLEYE The walleye has become a highly-sought game fishfor Kansas anglers and has been stocked in most federal reservoirsand some larger state and community lakes. To help maintainthese fisheries, millions of young walleye are collected andstocked each spring by department biologists and culturists. Theworld record is 22.69 pounds. The state record weighed 13.16pounds.SAUGEYE The saugeye is a cross between a walleye and a saugerand is another promising hybrid. The saugeye has been successfullystocked in reservoirs where walleye populations are difficultto maintain. Similar in appearance to the parents, the saugeye willgrow faster than either but probably won't get as big as the walleye.The world record saugeye weighed 15.63 pounds. The state recordweighed 9.81 pounds.Illustrations by Joseph R. TomelleriSAUGER This close cousin to the walleye loves murky waterand current. Sauger are being stocked in several northeasternKansas reservoirs where walleye haven't done well because ofhigh flow-through and murky water conditions. Sauger are lesslikely than walleye to be flushed from a reservoir. Smaller thanthe walleye, the world record sauger weighed 8.75 pounds. Thestate record is 4.8 pounds.PADDLEFISH The paddlefish is a plankton eater that resemblesprehistoric fishes. Common only in two Kansas rivers – theMarais des Cygnes and the Neosho – the paddlefish is taken byfishermen during the spring spawning runs, and then only duringthe special snagging season. The largest paddlefish on modernrecord was caught in Kansas in 2004 and weighed 144pounds.9