MDC notes catfish mortality at Johnston Lake in Raymore

Kansas City, Mo. – The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) has received reports of dead channel catfish at Johnston Lake in Hawk Ridge Park at Raymore. The reports followed a stocking of catfish in the lake on April 28. This is likely a stress mortality event associated with moving the fish during stocking and not a fish kill caused by environmental factors that are a danger to people or other fish in the lake, said Jake Colehour, MDC district supervisor for community conservation programs.

MDC stocked 350 channel catfish in the lake on April 28 as part of the Community Assistance Program (CAP). Most fish likely survived the stocking and will provide fishing this summer, Colehour said. The lake will receive six more stockings of catfish this year.

The catfish stocked were raised at a private hatchery, he said. They were transferred to MDC’s Lost Valley Fish Hatchery in Warsaw for one night. Then they were loaded onto a hatchery truck again for travel as part of a catfish stocking at several urban lakes in the Kansas City area. MDC partners with communities in the CAP program to provide close-to-home fishing opportunities for anglers at public lakes.

Some mortality is normal after fish are transported for stocking, Colehour said. Most fish survive and provide angling opportunities. MDC will continue to monitor Johnston Lake, but biologists do not believe there are any fish disease or water quality issues at the lake.

For a complete list of urban lakes stocked with channel catfish in the Kansas City area, visit https://short.mdc.mo.gov/ZPt. MDC provides a hotline for anglers to hear updates on fish stocking at urban lakes, call 816-525-0300.