BROOKINGS – The Brookings Wildlife Federation will host Game, Fish and Parks fisheries biologists Ben Schall and Dave Lucchesi at its noon Infolunch at the HyVee club room on Friday, Aug. 3. 

The fishery biologists will bring the Brookings conservation group up to date on research on channel and flathead catfish on the James River.

The work is quite exciting because of the presence of some trophy fish, some exceeding 40 pounds. In South Dakota, the record channel catfish is 55 pounds; the record flathead is 60 pounds.  

The main objectives of the study are to assess the population dynamics of these species and to assess angler harvest of tagged fish.  Sampling began last year and will continue through 2019. Fish are being collected with electrofishing and trot lines, which are fishing lines with multiple baited hooks designed to catch large fish.  

This catfish study is a check-up on information that was collected on the Jim River fishery some 20 years ago when South Dakota State University students made the first comprehensive studies of the Jim River, its habitat, ecology, and fish community.  

Eight species of catfish swim in South Dakota’s waters, from the minnow-sized stone cat to the huge flathead catfish. Perhaps the catfish that is caught the most is the black bullhead. The record 4 pound, 5 ounces black bullhead was caught from Lake Poinsett in 2009. However, the channel catfish and flathead catfish are the most prized by anglers who go to the Jim or Missouri rivers for the big catfish. 

The Federation’s Infolunch is open to the public. The BWF is affiliated with the South Dakota Wildlife Federation and the National Wildlife Federation. The BWF is in its 38th year of serving conservation information and activities to the community. 

For more information, contact BWF President Spencer Vaa at 695-6867.

Courtesy photo: A Department of Game, Fish and Parks biologist holds a large flathead catfish collected from the James River during a study of the catfish population.