Just in time for summer, the Missouri Department of Conservation is restocking several lakes in the Kansas City area with channel catfish.

Completely funded by the state, MDC’s urban catfish stocking program fills 13 lakes with 40,000 catfish every year.

During the colder months, anglers can also catch bluegill and trout.

“The department and the state of Missouri has a lot of good fishing throughout the state, but we wanted to bring more opportunity into areas that maybe folks can travel to easier,” said Caleb Pemberton, fisheries biologist. “That’s the whole goal, I guess, is to bring more opportunity to kids, to elderly or to people that maybe can’t transport themselves.”

If you stop by Lake of the Woods in Swope Park at any given time, chances are you will catch a glimpse of Elijah Watkins. He said time flies when he is waiting for his dinner to bite.

Watkins is thankful for a fresh food source just down the street.

“Everything’s just better outside in nature,” Watkins said. “You can taste the difference between store-bought fish and fresh fish.”

The program has seen great success with many of the city’s lakes being completely fished out season after season.

Stocking efforts provide entertainment for families during the warmer months, but Pemberton said it is also a beneficial program to the local ecosystem.

Fish play an important role in water balance and the food chain.

“Fish help an aquatic ecosystem rotate through — from aquatic insects, other invertebrates,” Pemberton said. “There’s a lot of animals here besides just fish that use this water. From birds to, I’ve seen deer down here, turtles and everything. So when you lose an aquatic ecosystem, terrestrial life is affected, too; not just us.”

Eventually, it all trickles back to anglers who catch fish for nutrients and education.

Robert Mora likes to bring his children, nieces and nephews to enjoy.

“They often ask questions: 'What is this?' So they’re learning it themselves, you know?" Mora said. "So they’re becoming experts on what they’re doing, too. They just want to investigate and kind of learn different things.”

For more information on MDC’s urban fish stocking program and to find out when a specific lake was restocked last, anglers can call the Stocking Hotline at 816-525-0300.