In the 1980s, a nationally known fishery for blue catfish weighing double or even more than triple the 20-pound trophy mark flourished from Bagnell Dam west almost to the Kansas line.
That’s no longer the case. More than one culprit shares the blame, but the primary cause of the fishery’s precipitous decline is the overharvest of what, at the time, most catfish anglers assumed to be an inexhaustible supply of giant blues.
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