1. Large Rivers Less physical stability Difficult to sample Highly modified Commercial fishing on large rivers

2. The Wabash River Longest free flowing river east of the Mississippi River Substantial commercial fishery for catfish 300 licenses 34 tons of harvest Southeastern border of Illinois Different management strategies IL=15 inches (381 mm), IN=10 inches (254 mm)

3. Catfish Fisheries Important to fishers of the Midwestern and southern United states. One in four anglers in the United States target catfish Issues with management

4. Flathead Catfish Pylodictis olivaris Popular sportfish and commercial species Big, mean, taste good Oklahoma They are thought to be sedentary Typically have self- sustaining populations Illinois ?

5. Cassi J. Moody 1, Leslie D Frankland 2, Greg G. Sass 3 and Robert E. Colombo 1 1 Biological Sciences Department, Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, Illinois 61920, USA 2 Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Division of Fish and Wildlife, 3 Illinois Natural History Survey, Illinois River Biological Station, 704 North Schrader Avenue, Havana, Illinois 62644, USA

6. Overview Why?? Information scarce, changing regulations Where? Boundary water of the Wabash River How? Proposed sampling protocol What Now? Use of preliminary results and future of study

7. Why? Wabash River Biological sampling (10%) vs. commercial fishing harvest (27%) Information on population scarce Sampling protocols inefficient Indiana’s harvest limits may change Must be 15 inches (381mm) and only one fish over 35 inches (889 mm) Trophy?

8. Objectives of Study Establish a long term monitoring program for catfish Determine the most effective sampling methods Assess habitat use and movement Estimate current state of population before and after shift in management

9. Where? Lower 200 miles 10-1 mile sites Upstream Darwin Downstream New Haven

10. How? Active Electrofishing DC and AC 1 hour at each site Passive Trotline 2 lines per site 25 hooks per line Cut bait

11. How? Passive Hoopnets 15 nets each site Bar mesh 1,1.5,2 inches Commercial fisherman harvest John Farmer Saving fish ≥30 lbs

12. How ? Movement and habitat assessment 25 fish with ultra sonic tags Stationary VR2 receivers Manual tracking with VR60

13. How? Age, growth, and mortality Pectoral spines from fish >200 mm TL, floy tag Sectioning the articulating process Pictures of “best” section and counting annuli

14. Results Total of 138 flathead catfish in 2010 and 443 in 2011. 2010: AC electrofishing for flathead catfish had an average CPUE of 1.6 fish/hour and the average length of the fish was 350.5 mm. 2010: DC electrofishing CPUE for flathead catfish averaged 41.3 fish/hour and the average length captured was 267.4 mm. Trotlines not very effective

15. Results *trotlines had very low catch rates

16. DC Electrofishing (N=240)

17. AC Electrofishing (N=39)

18. Hoopnetting (N=163)

19. Age Structure of Flathead Catfish (2010)

20. What Now? Aging fish from 2011, growth and mortality estimates Fall hoopnetting run Live bait trotlines??? Continue to use a multi-gear approach Movement assessment

21. Acknowledgements Eastern Illinois University graduate students and undergraduates Illinois Department of Natural Resources Illinois Natural History Survey

22. Questions? Guess Who???