Joe Crumpton
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Fisheries Research Laboratory,
601 West Woodward Ave., Eustis, FL 32726 Phone: (352) 742-6438 Fax: (352) 742-6461
E-mail:
joe.crumpton@MyFWC.com
Volume I May 2001
Editorial:
Welcome to the first public edition of CatFish Man's News and Views.
Hopefully, you will become informed and educated, and even be entertained a
little about catfish and catfishing. In addition to informing and
entertaining, through the CatFish Man's Corner, the newsletter will be
your forum to ask any questions you might have about catfish and catfishing.
I will address your questions personally or through the newsletter. My
intent is to convey how interesting catfish are, and how much fun catfishing is.
~Joe Crumpton
What kind of catfish can be caught in Florida, and where?
NATIVE SPECIES WHERE Brown bullhead Statewide Channel catfish Statewide White catfish Statewide Yellow bullhead Statewide
NON-NATIVE SPECIES Blue catfish Perdido and Escambia; Rivers in Northwest Florida Flathead catfish Perdido, Escambia, White, Yellow, Appalachicola, and Ochlocknee Rivers in Northwest Florida
Current Florida State Records
Blue catfish 61.5 pounds
Brown bullhead 5.7 pounds
Channel catfish 44.5 pounds
Flathead catfish 48.4 pounds
White catfish 18.9 pounds
Yellow bullhead No Record
America's Most Popular Cat
10 to 12 million catfish anglers can't be wrong… Although the numbers of blue and flathead catfish anglers continue to increase annually, most anglers still go after the "Official Mr. Whiskers," the channel catfish. While he doesn't jump or tail-walk over the surface like a largemouth bass, turn flips in midair like the American shad, or slice the water with the speed of the striped bass, he pulls harder and longer than most any fish swimming in fresh water. The channel cat is a package of power with the torque of a Hum-Vee and the speed of a hopped up V-8.
