navery

I used to take a lot of them back east, called them "hornpout", so not what would be in Lake Springfield, but they were good tasting white flesh and while I never weighed them, I'd guess the ones we ate between 1.5 and 3 pounds. With generous limits it's easy to make meal.  The best bait was nightcrawlers threaded on monofilament with no hook as they would hold onto that ball of worm until touched against boat or bucket and then spit it out. If using hooks it was best to us a #10 snelled hook with a snap swivel and replace the hook with each catch, recovering the snell and hook when cleaning the fish.  On fly rod the best fly would likely be a black or brown leech, I took some on an all black woolly bugger twitched slowly on the pond bottom in about 3' of water. 50 years ago they fairly popular in that area. 
In one small trout lake the hornpout hatch in a particular cove would draw trout from the entire lake. 
The only Mo.  population that I've fished is in Big Sugar Creek where I spent a few hours casting weighted flies into their nests and practicing C&R, I discovered that during their spawn they apparently don't eat, as they would only pick up fly to remove it from a nest. Those were Black Bullheads native to most of Mo. and in that creek averaged <1lb. But, there were locals there that feasted on them. On average I think that any bullhead will have more meat than a trout or bass of equal length, but, that's just my thoughts about how thick the ones  I caught were in comparison. 
In a pond situation, I'd rig multiple rod/reels with bobbers and snap swivels with snelled hooks and worm baits, setting the baits near the bottom. 
You do want to be very careful of those very sharp spines, they are painful and seem to cause lingering soreness.

Forsyth might be flooded right now, but there are big fish there right now. Fished for an hour off the bank just for fun. Pic is 4th cast. If you have a boat and can find a launch, there are even bigger there currently. 

Forsyth might be flooded right now, but there are big fish there right now. Fished for an hour off the bank just for fun. Pic is 4th cast. If you have a boat and can find a launch, there are even bigger there currently. 

Forsyth might be flooded right now, but there are big fish there right now. Fished for an hour off the bank just for fun. Pic is 4th cast. If you have a boat and can find a launch, there are even bigger there currently. 

The wind isn't a bad thing for all species....
These were from 2 weeks ago.  Biggest went 11 lbs. Caught 8 total. 

The wind isn't a bad thing for all species....
These were from 2 weeks ago.  Biggest went 11 lbs. Caught 8 total. 

The wind isn't a bad thing for all species....
These were from 2 weeks ago.  Biggest went 11 lbs. Caught 8 total. 

The wind isn't a bad thing for all species....
These were from 2 weeks ago.  Biggest went 11 lbs. Caught 8 total. 

The wind isn't a bad thing for all species....
These were from 2 weeks ago.  Biggest went 11 lbs. Caught 8 total. 

You need to first confirm that you are actually seeing feeding activity. There are a lot of carp, gar, etc that will break the surface that people confuse as feeding. When hybrids blitz on the surface it is usually for small windows of time. If they are whites and hybrids they will hit almost anything that moves. They will be looking up so don't use diving crankbaits. Use a rattle trap or paddle tail on a 1/2-3/4oz jighead and retrieve fast as soon as it hits the water. Most people use Zara super spooks in bone color when they are busting on top. The perfect set up down there is a 10ft medium heavy spinning rod with 20lb braid. You can use a 18-24in of 20lb mono for a leader to tie your lure to. The 10ft rod is strictly for casting distance. Best times for hybrids are sunrise and sunset and I would just throw the spook even if you don't see them surfacing. 

You need to first confirm that you are actually seeing feeding activity. There are a lot of carp, gar, etc that will break the surface that people confuse as feeding. When hybrids blitz on the surface it is usually for small windows of time. If they are whites and hybrids they will hit almost anything that moves. They will be looking up so don't use diving crankbaits. Use a rattle trap or paddle tail on a 1/2-3/4oz jighead and retrieve fast as soon as it hits the water. Most people use Zara super spooks in bone color when they are busting on top. The perfect set up down there is a 10ft medium heavy spinning rod with 20lb braid. You can use a 18-24in of 20lb mono for a leader to tie your lure to. The 10ft rod is strictly for casting distance. Best times for hybrids are sunrise and sunset and I would just throw the spook even if you don't see them surfacing. 

You need to first confirm that you are actually seeing feeding activity. There are a lot of carp, gar, etc that will break the surface that people confuse as feeding. When hybrids blitz on the surface it is usually for small windows of time. If they are whites and hybrids they will hit almost anything that moves. They will be looking up so don't use diving crankbaits. Use a rattle trap or paddle tail on a 1/2-3/4oz jighead and retrieve fast as soon as it hits the water. Most people use Zara super spooks in bone color when they are busting on top. The perfect set up down there is a 10ft medium heavy spinning rod with 20lb braid. You can use a 18-24in of 20lb mono for a leader to tie your lure to. The 10ft rod is strictly for casting distance. Best times for hybrids are sunrise and sunset and I would just throw the spook even if you don't see them surfacing. 

You need to first confirm that you are actually seeing feeding activity. There are a lot of carp, gar, etc that will break the surface that people confuse as feeding. When hybrids blitz on the surface it is usually for small windows of time. If they are whites and hybrids they will hit almost anything that moves. They will be looking up so don't use diving crankbaits. Use a rattle trap or paddle tail on a 1/2-3/4oz jighead and retrieve fast as soon as it hits the water. Most people use Zara super spooks in bone color when they are busting on top. The perfect set up down there is a 10ft medium heavy spinning rod with 20lb braid. You can use a 18-24in of 20lb mono for a leader to tie your lure to. The 10ft rod is strictly for casting distance. Best times for hybrids are sunrise and sunset and I would just throw the spook even if you don't see them surfacing. 

You need to first confirm that you are actually seeing feeding activity. There are a lot of carp, gar, etc that will break the surface that people confuse as feeding. When hybrids blitz on the surface it is usually for small windows of time. If they are whites and hybrids they will hit almost anything that moves. They will be looking up so don't use diving crankbaits. Use a rattle trap or paddle tail on a 1/2-3/4oz jighead and retrieve fast as soon as it hits the water. Most people use Zara super spooks in bone color when they are busting on top. The perfect set up down there is a 10ft medium heavy spinning rod with 20lb braid. You can use a 18-24in of 20lb mono for a leader to tie your lure to. The 10ft rod is strictly for casting distance. Best times for hybrids are sunrise and sunset and I would just throw the spook even if you don't see them surfacing. 

You need to first confirm that you are actually seeing feeding activity. There are a lot of carp, gar, etc that will break the surface that people confuse as feeding. When hybrids blitz on the surface it is usually for small windows of time. If they are whites and hybrids they will hit almost anything that moves. They will be looking up so don't use diving crankbaits. Use a rattle trap or paddle tail on a 1/2-3/4oz jighead and retrieve fast as soon as it hits the water. Most people use Zara super spooks in bone color when they are busting on top. The perfect set up down there is a 10ft medium heavy spinning rod with 20lb braid. You can use a 18-24in of 20lb mono for a leader to tie your lure to. The 10ft rod is strictly for casting distance. Best times for hybrids are sunrise and sunset and I would just throw the spook even if you don't see them surfacing. 

You need to first confirm that you are actually seeing feeding activity. There are a lot of carp, gar, etc that will break the surface that people confuse as feeding. When hybrids blitz on the surface it is usually for small windows of time. If they are whites and hybrids they will hit almost anything that moves. They will be looking up so don't use diving crankbaits. Use a rattle trap or paddle tail on a 1/2-3/4oz jighead and retrieve fast as soon as it hits the water. Most people use Zara super spooks in bone color when they are busting on top. The perfect set up down there is a 10ft medium heavy spinning rod with 20lb braid. You can use a 18-24in of 20lb mono for a leader to tie your lure to. The 10ft rod is strictly for casting distance. Best times for hybrids are sunrise and sunset and I would just throw the spook even if you don't see them surfacing. 

You need to first confirm that you are actually seeing feeding activity. There are a lot of carp, gar, etc that will break the surface that people confuse as feeding. When hybrids blitz on the surface it is usually for small windows of time. If they are whites and hybrids they will hit almost anything that moves. They will be looking up so don't use diving crankbaits. Use a rattle trap or paddle tail on a 1/2-3/4oz jighead and retrieve fast as soon as it hits the water. Most people use Zara super spooks in bone color when they are busting on top. The perfect set up down there is a 10ft medium heavy spinning rod with 20lb braid. You can use a 18-24in of 20lb mono for a leader to tie your lure to. The 10ft rod is strictly for casting distance. Best times for hybrids are sunrise and sunset and I would just throw the spook even if you don't see them surfacing. 

You need to first confirm that you are actually seeing feeding activity. There are a lot of carp, gar, etc that will break the surface that people confuse as feeding. When hybrids blitz on the surface it is usually for small windows of time. If they are whites and hybrids they will hit almost anything that moves. They will be looking up so don't use diving crankbaits. Use a rattle trap or paddle tail on a 1/2-3/4oz jighead and retrieve fast as soon as it hits the water. Most people use Zara super spooks in bone color when they are busting on top. The perfect set up down there is a 10ft medium heavy spinning rod with 20lb braid. You can use a 18-24in of 20lb mono for a leader to tie your lure to. The 10ft rod is strictly for casting distance. Best times for hybrids are sunrise and sunset and I would just throw the spook even if you don't see them surfacing. 

You need to first confirm that you are actually seeing feeding activity. There are a lot of carp, gar, etc that will break the surface that people confuse as feeding. When hybrids blitz on the surface it is usually for small windows of time. If they are whites and hybrids they will hit almost anything that moves. They will be looking up so don't use diving crankbaits. Use a rattle trap or paddle tail on a 1/2-3/4oz jighead and retrieve fast as soon as it hits the water. Most people use Zara super spooks in bone color when they are busting on top. The perfect set up down there is a 10ft medium heavy spinning rod with 20lb braid. You can use a 18-24in of 20lb mono for a leader to tie your lure to. The 10ft rod is strictly for casting distance. Best times for hybrids are sunrise and sunset and I would just throw the spook even if you don't see them surfacing. 

It's some kind of pigment thing.  
Melanosis (Black Spot, Blotchy Bass) | Missouri Department of Conservation (mo.gov)

There are a bunch of hybrids at kk Island currently.  Look for the cold front to fire them up and bust on top. Sunrise and sunset

There are a bunch of hybrids at kk Island currently.  Look for the cold front to fire them up and bust on top. Sunrise and sunset

There are a bunch of hybrids at kk Island currently.  Look for the cold front to fire them up and bust on top. Sunrise and sunset

No, rain water and run off control that. Rain isn't steady or necessarily cold enough to keep creek flows and temps consistent enough for a healthy, naturally occurring spawn ......

That is really cool! Common water snake.   I would say a mudpuppy was on the menu.