MO Missouri Porch

Catfish & rough fish

Catfish & rough fish

Missouri has three catfish worth knowing. The channel cat is the everyday fish — the one most people catch off a bank or a farm pond. The blue cat grows the biggest and lives mostly in the big rivers and large reservoirs. The flathead (also called a yellow cat or mud cat) is a heavy fish that likes live bait and big-river snags. The statewide limits below are the starting point, but big rivers often set their own stricter rules, so always check the sign at the access.

Catfish are also the fish you can catch on set lines — lines you bait, leave in the water, and come back to check. A trotline is a long main line with many hooks hung from it, usually stretched across a stream or cove. A throwline is a short line you toss out from the bank with a few hooks on it. A limb line ties to an overhanging tree branch so the limb works like a fishing rod. A bank line is the same idea tied to a stake or post on the bank. A jug line hangs a baited hook below a floating jug. All of these have rules below — and you have to label and check them.

Check your water first

Missouri's statewide limits are only the starting point. Hundreds of lakes, rivers, trout areas, urban lakes, and stream stretches set their own daily limits, length limits, slot limits, bait rules, or catch-and-release rules that override the statewide number. The local rule is usually posted on a sign at the access.

Look up your water in MDC's Special Waterbody Regulations →

The statewide starting point

Statewide limits — catfish

These are the statewide defaults. Your specific lake, river, or stream stretch may set stricter rules — check the sign at the access.

Fish Daily Possession Length Notes
Channel catfish 10 20 None statewide Big rivers set combined limits and slots.
Blue catfish 5 10 None statewide Some waters add a protected slot.
Flathead catfish 5 10 None statewide —

Full seasons & limits: MDC Fishing Seasons & Limits.

The big-river twist

Big rivers change the catfish limits

The Missouri and Mississippi rivers — and some large reservoirs — set their own catfish rules that replace the statewide numbers above. Many big-river stretches add a protected slot: a range of lengths you must release so the biggest, best-breeding fish stay in the water. Read the access sign or the MDC special-waterbody page before you keep a fish.

Example to verify: The Missouri and Mississippi rivers often run about 20 channel-and-blue combined plus 10 flathead; some blue-cat waters protect a slot (e.g., release 26–34″, keep no more than 2 over 34″).

Set lines & the hook rule

How many hooks you can run — and how to tend them

The big thing people miss: the hook limit is combined. Every hook you have in the water counts toward the same total — the hooks on your poles, your trotlines, your throwlines, your limb lines, your bank lines, and your jug lines all add up together. You can't run a full set of poles and a full trotline; it's one shared total for everything you've got out.

Jug lines have their own twist. An anchored jug — one tied off so it stays put — may be left unattended for up to 24 hours, like a trotline. An unanchored jug that drifts free must be attended (stay with it) on streams, and on lakes it must be checked at least once an hour. Label every jug with your name and address or Conservation Number, just like any other set line.

Methods

Legal ways to take fish

Method Usually for Key rule
Pole & line Any fish (the only legal way to take gamefish) Gamefish must be hooked in the mouth or jaw.
Trotline / throwline / limb line / bank line Catfish and nongame Counts toward your combined hook limit; label it; check at least every 24 hours.
Jug line Catfish Anchored jug ≤24 hrs unattended; unanchored jug attended (streams) or checked hourly (lakes).
Gig / atlatl Nongame fish (suckers, carp) Only in the gigging seasons/hours; gamefish can't be gigged.
Bow / crossbow (bowfishing) Nongame fish Hours/seasons vary by water; nongame only.
Snagging Nongame fish — and paddlefish in season The one exception that lets you take a gamefish (paddlefish) without a mouth hook.
Live-bait trap Catching your own bait Allowed and must be labeled — but slat/wire fish traps are illegal.

Slat and wire fish traps are illegal — only live-bait traps are allowed.

Good to remove (no limit)

Invasive fish that don't count toward any limit — keep all you want.

  • Bighead carp
  • Silver carp
  • Grass carp
  • Common carp
  • Goldfish

Do NOT harvest (protected)

Endangered or protected — release right away.

  • Alligator gar
  • Pallid sturgeon (federally endangered)
  • Lake sturgeon (state endangered)
  • Any endangered or protected fish

When in doubt, release it.

Looking for carp, suckers, gar, and the other rough or nongame fish? Those — and how to take them by gig or bow — live on the Gigging & bowfishing page.

Before you fish

Missouri Porch explains; the MDC decides.

Data current for 2026. Last checked against MDC: 2026-06-18. Limits, prices, and special-water rules change — confirm with MDC before you fish.

This is a plain-English summary, not the law. Always check the current MDC regulations before you fish. As MDC says, the regulation summary is NOT a legal document and rules can change during the year.

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