NEWS RELEASE

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

November 21, 1997

CONTACT: Dan Dobbins (850) 627-9674

FLATHEAD FISHING TIME COMPRESSED

Anglers after flathead catfish in the Apalachicola River or the handful of other panhandle rivers where they roam have only a few weeks before fishing is over until spring.

"The reason is, flatheads become dormant, or enter a hibernation-like state on the bottom when water temperatures drop," says Dan Dobbins, a fisheries biologist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission who has monitored the spread of flatheads into several northwest Florida waterways. On the Apalachicola River, he said the dormancy period begins usually by December but depends on the number and severity of cold fronts moving through the area.

Dobbins said cold-weather fishermen fishing freshwater should turn their attention to black crappie, channel catfish, largemouth bass, striped bass, white bass and sunshine bass (hybrids).

Flathead catfish are piscivorus which means they are live-fish-eaters and native to the Mississippi River, Rio Grande and Mobile Bay drainages. They have moved from one eastern state to another since the 1950s and were first documented in the Apalachicola River at Chattahoochee in 1982. They are now permanent residents in the Escambia and Perdido Rivers near Pensacola, Chipola River, Lake Seminole, lower tributaries of the Apalachicola River and Ochlockonee River.

While flatheads grow to weights exceeding 100 pounds in their native range, Dobbins said no one knows exactly how big they’ll grow in Florida but he does recommend anglers use stout tackle and live bait, such as bream or shad.

Last season a Chattahoochee angler caught a state record 43.5-pound fish just below Jim Woodruff dam and at least one 51-pounder was caught on a bush hook from the Escambia River. Bush hooks and trotlines, however, are considered commercial fishing methods and fish caught by those methods are ineligible for the state record program. One thing that is widely recognized by biologists and fishermen alike is that flatheads are predacious. "Flatheads are fish-eaters and will certainly reduce the number of redbreast sunfish (river bream) and bullheads," Dobbins said. "These two groups of fish tend to occupy the same ‘niche’ or place in these rivers and they lose out." "That pretty much happens wherever they’re found."

He said other species such as channel catfish, bluegill, shellcracker and largemouth bass have not been significantly impacted by flatheads.

Dobbins said the FWC has a flathead study underway on the Apalachicola River and anyone who catches a tagged fish is asked to call the telephone number on the tag and report the catch. He said a flathead catfish newsletter has been initiated and individuals interested in flathead fishing or learning more about the species can receive future copies by calling the FWC’s Little River Ranch field office at (850) 627-9674.