The Rate of Growth of Flathead Catfish
in Twenty-one Oklahoma Lakes
H. A. McCOY, Oklahoma Game and FIsh Department, Norman, 1953
In the computation of average lengths in individual waters, fish were grouped into year-classes and a weighted average was obtained. The simple average of the weighted means for each lake was computed 'to establish the average length at the end of each year of life for the entire sample. On the basis of this sample, flathead catfish average about 4.6 inches at the end of the first year of life, and during the succeeding 13 years attain average lengths of 9.7, 15.2, 20.0, 23.4, 25.9, 28.9, 32.4 35.1, 38.3, 39.0, 41.5, 42.8, and 43.3 inches. Corresponding average weights at these lengths (calculated from length-weight formula in later section are approximately 0.03, 0.31, 1.34, 3.28, 5.47, 7.61, 10.88, 15.77,20.48, 27.20, 28.87, 36.32, 39.06, and 40.67 pounds, respectively. The average annual increment of growth in length is approximately flve inches tor the tirst four years of Ufe, three inches during the following six. years, and decreases to about one inch per year by the fourteenth year (Table II, Figure 1). The average annual increment of growth in weight ae~leratea sharply to about five pounds per year by the ninth year of life (Figure 1). On the basis of three-year moving averages the rate of weight increase declines slighUy after the tenth year of Ufe. However, this phenomenon is not typical of large reservoir populations
AGE-GROUP NUMBER OF FISH AVERAGE LENGTH LENGTH RANGE
III 4 18.4 16.9-20.0
IV 3 22.9 21.7-23.5
V 17 27.45 25.6-28.7
VI 4 32.2 30.6-34.3
VII 4 36.2 31.6-38.5
VIII - - -
IX 2 40.5 39.8-41.1
X 3 38.0 33.5-39.0
XI 6 39.5 36.0-46.0
XII 4 45.7 43.0-48.0
XIII 9 44.2 41.2-54.5
XIV 6 44.6 43.1-46.7
XV 5 46.3 41.2-55.5
XVI 4 43.7 37.2-50.5
XVII 1 43.1
XVIII 2 43.2 42.0-44.5
XIX 1 42.0
A 42.0-inch, 19-year-old flathead catfish taken from Boomer Lake was
the oldest individual in the entire sample, and is the oldest individual of
any Oklahoma species on record at the Fisheries Research Laboratory.
The largest flathead catfish represented in the entire sample was 55.5 inches
long and weighed 95 pounds. This 15-year-old individual, taken from
Boomer Lake, has a calculated weight of 91 pounds.
The Length-Weight Relationship of Flathead Catfish in Oklahoma Water.
SIZE INTERVAL No. of AVERAGE TOTAL AVERAGE WEIGHT CALCULATED
(INCHE8) FISH LENGTH (INCHES) (POUNDS) WEIGHT (POUND8)
------
3.0- 4.9 12 4.2 0.03 0.02
5.0- 6.9 20 5.9 0.08 0.06
7.0- 8.9 37 7.9 0.18 0.16
9.0-10.9 33 10.0 0.36 0.34
1l.0-12.9 27 11.9 0.69 0.60
13.0-14.9 36 13.8 0.91 0.98
16.0-16.9 20 15.8 1.37 1.51
17.0-18.9 26 17.9 2.15 2.29
19.0-20.9 17 19.9 3.14 3.23
21.0-22.9 12 22.0 4.25 4.47
23.0-24.9 22 23.8 5.93 5.82
26.0-26.9 26 26.1 7.80 7.77
27.0-28.9 32 27.8 10.16 9.58
29.0-30.9 19 29.9 12.21 12.12
31.0-32.9 14 31.9 15.67 15.05
33.0-34.9 13 33.6 18.26 17.76
35.0-36.9 14 36.1 23.50 22.44
37.0-38.9 14 37.6 25.94 25.60
39.0-40.9 8 39.6 30.07 30.46
41.0-42.9 7 41.7 35.24 35.87
43.0-44.9 11 43.6 40.35 41.43
45.0-46.9 1 45.7 50.00 48.35
Total Number of Fish - 421
That is interesting. Do you know if age affects taste?
ReplyDeleteI don't have any specifics or scientific data on that. I do, however, prefer to keep catfish between 2-10 pounds for eating. They tend to not be as grainy or taste like dirt/mud. Also, when cleaning the fish, skip the belly meat, that is where most of the taste comes from. Any meat that has a yellow tint to it, cut it out. That is usually where you'll get the undesirable taste.
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