Assessment of Habitat Use, Range, and Diel Movement Patterns of Flathead Catfish in a Midwestern River Using Ultrasonic Telemetry

Flathead Catfish are one of the most sought after species for recreational and commercial fisheries within the Mississippi River basin; however, little is known about their habitat use, range, and diel movement pattern.  This information is essential to ensure lotic systems contain necessary habitats to support annual life history events.  We tagged a total of 44 adult Flathead Catfish in the free flowing lower 200 miles of the Wabash River.  To monitor movements and evaluate habitat use, we conducted monthly active tracking at tagging sites, seasonal whole river tracking, and seasonal continuous 24 hour tracking.  Annually, Flathead Catfish showed restrictive movements within a relatively small range (1,406.94 m).  Fish showed the highest diel mobility within the largest area (12,284.65 ± 2,772.05 m²) in summer, and utilized shoreline and main channel habitat.  In winter, fish became most inactive and remained within shoreline habitats. Although individuals were located in shoreline and main channel, we determined Flathead Catfish strongly selected for outside bend habitat during all seasons. Our results show that Flathead Catfish in the lower Wabash River are relatively non-mobile and outside bends provide important habitat contributing to the health and persistence of the population.