by Jamie Moore
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A Conservation Message from a Lady Catfish Angler
Editor’s Note: Jamie Moore does some tournament catfishing with her husband, Josh and brother-in law, Zed (Moore Brothers Catfishing). One of her most recent accomplishments is being named top female competitor at the 2016 Winter Blues on Wheeler. She is pictured in the photo being interviewed by Shannon Muncher at the event.
Tournament fishing has made me even more aware of the importance of catfish conservation. We get to travel and see a variety of waterways from rivers to lakes. There are definitely some differences in fish size and numbers from one body of water to another.
It doesn’t matter the body of water; conservation and wise management is critical to growing large fish. This is especially true for catfish. Whether it’s rivers or lakes these catfish take years to grow.
Over harvesting can be detrimental to the population and can impact the size of catfish a person can catch. Big fish of any species are a blast to catch and giant catfish are like none other. For me personally, it’s a quest. I am always striving to catch a bigger catfish than the last one.
As trophy catfish anglers we should take a photo, make a memory, and throw the big ones back. We owe it to those people who practiced CPR before us and we owe it to the next generation of catfish anglers.