Over the years rumors have persisted of giant catfish seen in the vicinity of the Bagnell Dam. According to the yarns, these fish--as large as a man--were seen in deep water by divers working on the intake gates of the dam. But reason would seem to suggest otherwise. Below a certain depth there is too little oxygen in the water for fish to survive, and the deep water is very cold.
I decided to check with the Missouri Department of Conservation. They kept no records of sightings, but they did provide a list of the biggest fish caught in the Lake of the Ozarks. The largest catfish weighed 103 pounds. The largest fish of any kind caught at the lake was a 134 pound paddlefish. So that seemed to settle the matter.
Several years ago, one of the stops along the Bagnell Dam strip was a site called the Missouri Aquarium. This aquarium featured a five-foot long catfish. It was caught in the lake. Now a five-foot catfish is a big fish. But there was something even more unusual about this fish. It had bite marks around its middle. Something very large had tried to eat this fish.
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