# The importance of CPRing Big Flatheads



## JimmyMac (Feb 18, 2011)

I ran by this article on another web site I'm a member of, thought I'd share it here for those targeting flathead catfish. 

"This tech article is about the importance of releasing large flathead catfish back into their native waters. Many catfisherman refer to this as "CPR",,,catch,photo,release. When I say native waters I mean the exact location of the catch. Fisherman can have a big impact on the amount of large flatheads in a small to medium sized river. Lack of bag/size limit regulations on these fish do not help at all. In fact some states claim they are an invasive predator. I respect the fact that any fisherman has the right to keep a large flathead if caught legally.But the fact is,,,when you remove a large flathead from it's native waters you remove a natural resource that can reproduce bigger healthier fish over and over again.
Some research from a Catfishingpro.com Forum Member "Fishgeek" finds that a flathead weighing 25 pounds can lay an estimated 58,800 eggs during spawn. Very large flatheads can lay up to 100,000+ eggs during spawn.With some calculations a 37lb female flattie should have 87,000 eggs (37 pounds x 2352 eggs/per pound) in her. 87,000eggs/6,000 eggs/pound of egg mass = 14.5 pounds of eggs! After this fish spawns it will be a 22lb fish!! Use this formula to figure out how many eggs your PB can lay,,,,2352 x "your fishes weight"= number of eggs.
So with this info you can clearly see how important it is to CPR large flatheads so they can spawn again.
Lets look at how removing "big" fish can effect the Gene pool in a section of river over several years.
A large flatheads spawn after hatched,feed heavier,are more active and have a lower mortallity level than a smaller flatheads spawn. This means these fish will grow much faster and bigger than a smaller flats spawn will. When you remove a big flathead from a section of river you remove that gene that makes larger flatheads. When all the large flatheads are removed this river section is left with small flatheads that lay weak fry that might not even live.. A small flatheads fry will mature as a small fish. Here is a good read about the effects of removing the gene pool of fish in general. Not about flatheads but you can relate.
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=1514544
http://creation.com/smaller-fish-to-fry

I talked with another Catfishingpro.com forum member "DrPepper" that fishes a great flathead river not long ago, here is the story I got from him.
The importance of CPR in the river I fish especially is that in the time I have been specifically fishing for flatheads in these same areas I have seen the number of 35 lb and up flatheads drop to zero.
No matter how much or how hard you fish, they just arent there....
a 25-30 pounder once in a great while is about all you can hope for these days.... pretty sad- every once in a while you may find one bigger- but it's very rare...... where 10 years ago flatheads that size were common, fishing pressure- a greater number of flathead fisherman who keep the flatheads, and illegal poaching up and down the river have absolutely ruined the fishery in the river as far as trophy flatheads go- it's a shame.
It's important for me to CPR for my own piece of mind, but I know I am just releasing that flathead into some fisherman or poachers hands thats going to either have it for dinner, or sell it to one of the many payponds around..... at least I know I've done my part- thats all I can do.

Several dams block migration, so there's no big flathead movement up or down- once their gone their gone.... and the trophies are gone between the dams.... between dams, most of what you get is the smaller flatheads left by mom ma and pa flathead from the good ol days.

It's pretty hard to release your first big flathead without showing it off to all your buddies. I've seen alot of nice fish in the back of vehicles, driving around showing off their catch. Like I said they have every right to. But to me watching a big 4ft long flathead slowly swim away is the best part of it all. What happens if people don't start is,,,you will end up with fewer and smaller fish every year. Simple as that.
I hope this helps some people to see exactly why it is important to release large fish. Most of the people I fish with release all flatheads regardless the size. It doesn't make them a better fisherman/sportsman the reason we do it is for future catfisherman.
Illegal harvesting of flatheads has a big impact on the amount of large flatheads in a body of water. I won't go into details about this because it pisses me off. Illegal is Illegal,,,know your fishing regs. Hope this helps!!
Thanks to "Fishgeek" "Riverscum" and "DrPepper" for the great info they shared for this tech article."

from catfishingpro.com


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## dinkbuster1 (Oct 28, 2005)

great article! maybe thats why the GMR Flats seem to top out between 35-40 pounds?


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## gryan1966 (Feb 11, 2005)

While I CPR almost everything no matter I catch (except bait) the amount of eggs a female holds is not really a good point. While the possibility of more fry being there is good it is also the possibility of more food for the bait fish and other enemies of that fish. I truely think that a fish will grow large given time enough to grow not the size of its parents. Does the size of the parent help IMO sure but its not the whole thing Im 6'2 my mom is barely 5'2 and dad was about 5'8 when he was alive (incase your wondering my gpa and gma dads side were short I never met my mothers side).

Im not trying to say that to CPR is useless but I just dont see it being the end all of getting big fish. Flame away (and I do NOT support selling to Pay Lakes)


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## M.Magis (Apr 5, 2004)

gryan1966 said:


> Flame away (and I do NOT support selling to Pay Lakes)


Nope, you&#8217;re absolutely right. To be perfectly honest, I don&#8217;t think there&#8217;s any science involved in that article, just one mans opinion. And a biased one at that. Not that I disagree with releasing large flatheads in most cases around this state, but the &#8220;arguments&#8221; he uses to persuade aren&#8217;t factual. His math doesn&#8217;t add up either.


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## katfish (Apr 7, 2004)

I think some of the points are valid. Larger fish have more viable eggs.
This means that more of the eggs hatch and there is a higher percentage of large amounts of eggs hatching.

Releasing large fish will increase recruitment of flathead in your waters.
It also makes another large fish available to fishermen.










Flatheads only defense from predation (as fry) is hiding. Muddy water during spawn will make a more successful year class of flathead.

I have seen no evidence that larger fish reproduce larger offspring. My feeling is that good habitat and longevity are the formula for larger fish.

Dams blocking flathead movement should have no effect on spawning or fish growth.

Given the amount of effort necessary to catch trophy flathead, it makes sense to keep smaller channel cats for food. You can probably catch 30 pounds of channel cat fillets with 1/10 th the effort needed for 30 pounds of flathead fillets.

Anyone claiming that they fish for food might consider computing the total cost to catch fish anyway  Fishing for trophy flathead should provide satisfaction with the catch and photos should provide lasting memories.
Releasing large flathead makes good sense.


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## JimmyMac (Feb 18, 2011)

I guess a few things in the article don't exactly add up. I also think You could take a young flathead from any body of water, put him in a large body of water with a strong food source, he will grow as big as his habitat allows. (not suggesting transplanting fish, just a theory) 

I feel a lot of things in this article are correct though and effect my #1 fishery, the great Miami river. The river is plenty big enough for trophy flathead, and they did come from there years ago. But in the last 8 years at least I haven't heard a single story of a fish over 40lbs coming from there. I know a lot of dudes that fish that river, lot of good fisherman, but nobody has real trophy flathead reports. 

At 14 years old I caught my personal best flathead in the lower stretch of that river, 51lbs, with the help of my uncle. Back in the early to mid 90's fish in that range weren't that uncommon, today without a picture its a fish tale.


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## JimmyMac (Feb 18, 2011)

katfish said:


> Anyone claiming that they fish for food might consider computing the total cost to catch fish anyway  Fishing for trophy flathead should provide satisfaction with the catch and photos should provide lasting memories.
> Releasing large flathead makes good sense.


Excellent point there, not to mention You spend more money on gas getting to the water than a bag of farmraised channel cat fillets from the grocery. Also popeye's chicken sells a very tasty catfish combo, for around $6. 

Also, not sure if this is the case with all flathead meat, I had it once and didn't enjoy it. I was at a fish fry held buy a guy at marsh lake, I was munching on some very tasty fried channel cat when he asked me to try one of the "big" fillets. It was flathead meat prepared the exact same way as the channel, I bit into it and spit it right back out. Tasted like moss covered in batter...


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## gryan1966 (Feb 11, 2005)

Im defiantly not trying to say its wrong I agree with CPR just not the "scientific" reasons they usually give. I would rather have more bigguns in there so my boys when they can possibly catch a big one can. I think the bigger one gets will mean that the less of some bait fish there will be for that big one so eventually one will get bigger IMO. Now with the pay lakes raping the rivers in spots and the fish not given enough time to grow is what I think causes the fish to only get to a certain size.


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## M.Magis (Apr 5, 2004)

I think most of us here agree with his opinion of catch and release of trophy flatheads being important. But, he really should verify facts to support his thoughts. One would assume he wrote that article hoping to sway a few peoples&#8217; opinions. With us, he&#8217;s preaching to the choir and maybe it&#8217;s not all that important that everything is correct. But, there are plenty of people out there who have different opinions, who can see the inaccuracies the same as we can.


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## ducky152000 (Jul 20, 2005)

[quoteDams blocking flathead movement should have no effect on spawning or fish growth.


Read more: http://www.ohiogamefishing.com/community/showthread.php?t=171609#ixzz1KfYmSpea][/quote]

I hered that blue cats have declined in size due to dams, is this true or not? i remember reading a article where there were many blue cats past the 200 lb mark when mark twain was a boy living around the old miss, Do you think that we would have bigger blues if we had no dams?
As for cpr everyone on here knows i realese everyflathead i catch and like robby said, you can or someone else can catch that fish agin, We have caught more than a few fish just weeks apart, We knew they were the same fish due to spawning marks.


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## Rod Hawg (Jan 13, 2011)

Big fish need to be put back regardless. They keep good fisheries going. If I keep more than my limit every trip. Fish will start to deterioate. Point being. Big fish in a body of water keep fisherman coming there to target them. If there aren't big fish. No one will fish there. I don't fish Flatheads but Blues and Channels I don't keep fish over 10lbs. There's no way I would've kept some of these fish.


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## M.Magis (Apr 5, 2004)

Rod Hawg said:


> Big fish need to be put back regardless. They keep good fisheries going. If I keep more than my limit every trip. Fish will start to deterioate. Point being. Big fish in a body of water keep fisherman coming there to target them. If there aren't big fish. No one will fish there. I don't fish Flatheads but Blues and Channels I don't keep fish over 10lbs.


Again, thats your opinion. Nothing wrong with that, but no one here is disagreeing with that opinion. Its just that some of us would like to see facts used to support that opinion. That article didnt provide many facts.


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## Rod Hawg (Jan 13, 2011)

Just being good stewards of what we have. I like to eat fish but I like to catch big fish and put them back for someone else. Just my opinion. Every has one.


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