Quote Originally Posted by drifter106 View Post
Although this is pretty much a crappie oriented forum I thought this may be the best place to ask as it may be of interest to others. I am under the impression that bluecats were introduced to John Redmond some time ago. Was wondering what the status of the lake was in relationship to bluecats. Also, can you speak, in general to the blues population in Kansas and how they are doing? From my understanding, Milford is probably the premier lake in Kansas for blues with Melvern showing some good numbers. In some of the forums I visit in regards to blues many of the fisherman are practicing CPR. Considering what it takes to get a trophy type fish this is something I totally agree with. Just thankful we have guidelines in place to help control the harvesting of the blues and flats.


thanks

please check your pm box for another question...


thanks
Drifter,

Question 1: I am under the impression that bluecats were introduced to John Redmond some time ago. Was wondering what the status of the lake was in relationship to bluecats.

In order to answer your question I contacted Justin Morrison kDWPT fish bio covering Redmond. His reply is below.




Craig,


The last blue cat stocking occurred in 2010 (10,000 fingerlings). Last week my creel clerk interviewed an angler that caught a 29" blue. So there is a high probability that blues are still in the lake, but I'm sure it's probably a low density population. I am planning to try to do some sampling this year to see what I can find. If the an angler is looking for some good blue cat fishing and Milford is too far, I would consider trying Coffey County Lake. There seems to be a good stable population of blues with fish being caught over 50 lbs.

Hope this helps.


Question 2: Also, can you speak, in general to the blues population in Kansas and how they are doing?

Yes, Milford would have to be "King" of the Kansas blue cats lakes currently. Melvern and Coffey County have also produced some impressive catches over the past several years so anglers looking for BIG blues should concentrate on these three lakes. Since 2004 blue catfish have been stocked in to several Kansas waters. Some of these include El Dorado, Cheney, Melvern, Tuttle, Kanapolis, Glen Elder, Lovewell, Wilson, Clinton, Perry, and Redmond reservoirs. The lakes that are doing 'the best' on blues are the ones that have had them the longest which takes us back to 'the big three'--Milford, Melvern, and Coffey.

Blues have established well at El Dorado since their introduction in 2004. They were annually stocked from 2004 through 2009. I documented natural recruitment occurring in 2009 so the 2010 stocking was cancelled. Target stocking rate was 2 fish per acre per year. Some years we were a little short other years we exceeded 2/ac. Blues are not known as fast growers. In Kansas, it takes blues approximately 7 years to reach sexual maturity. (In 2005, we went to Kaw Reservoir in Oklahoma and brought back 597 blue cats ranging from 10 to 20-inches in length to 'jump start' our El Dorado blue cat population by providing older fish vs. young of the year to reduce time to produce natural recruitment within the lake). These 7 year old fish would be around 21-inches in length. It takes a long time to produce the jumbo sized blue catfish many anglers like to see. El Dorado currently has a 35-inch minimum length limit on blues with a reduced creel limit of 5/day. These limits were put in place to protect the blues while they matured in to spawning sized individuals while the population established. The largest blue I've seen at El Dorado is a ~31-inch 13.5 pound fish so they are slowly getting there. Smaller fish are abundant and anglers are catching them regularly. Larger fish are present but at much lower densities. El Dorado just needs more time for these fish to grow in to BIG fish. Last week I shocked up a blue cat that still carried a tag from the 2005 stocking nearly 8 years ago so these fish can be around for a long time.

I'm not as familiar with the other lakes' statuses but I know a little about them. Cheney blues have been tough to sample. Cheney has been stocked for several years and also received some blues from Kaw a couple of years ago. The last two years the blues started appearing in sampling efforts so it may be ready to turn the corner. Tj at Perry has sampled some nice sized blues for a lake that has been recently stocked. I haven't heard much about the western reservoirs yet as they've just started receiving blue cat stockings over the past couple of years and if they act the same as El Dorado it will take several years before the blues begin showing up much.

A study on Milford blue catfish is currently underway. This study has already yielded some very interesting info and more is on the way. The study is looking at movements of blues in Milford reservoir including upstream movements and downstream movements (losses to the reservoir). There is also a study underway at El Dorado and Cheney reservoirs that will also collect information on blue cats including diet, age, and growth. KDWPT is looking forward to obtaining this new info to enhance blue catfish management efforts within the state.