L8models
09-28-2005, 05:48 PM
http://www.newsobserver.com/images/xtq_photos/2005-1/xtq_20050928-images/reg-1037306-640490.jpg Photo Courtesy of Brian Newberger
It took Brian Newberger of Fayetteville 40 minutes to haul in a 78-pound flathead.
By CATHERINE CLABBY, Staff Writer
After midnight on his secret spot on the Cape Fear River, Brian Newberger landed the biggest catfish ever caught in North Carolina.
The Fayetteville man's new entry in the state record book tells part of the story: 78 pounds, 52 inches long, 3 feet around. Big.
But some biologists say the sheer size of the catch shows that flathead catfish are dominating waters where they are not native, at a cost to other fish.
Late on Sept. 17, Newberger, a lifelong fisherman, motored his 20-foot pontoon boat to a spot he'd long watched above the No. 3 lock and dam on the Cape Fear near Fayetteville. He was certain giant catfish fed there.
Newberger cut a live, 14-inch eel so it would bleed and attached it to his hook. The big flathead catfish took the bait. It fought Newberger for 40 minutes before he could haul it aboard. "They're like a bull in the water," he said.
The fisherman, who set his sights on a record, knew right away his catch beat the 69-pound state title catfish caught in the Cape Fear in 1994. He kept his fish alive in a custom-made tank inside his boat until he could place it on state-certified scales.
After an N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission biologist confirmed its weight and girth, Newberger released the fish back into the river just after 10 a.m.
"I put all my fish back," said Newberger, 45. "That's one of God's creations."
Maybe. But the flathead's presence in this state is people's work.
Flathead catfish aren't native to North Carolina. They hail from the basins of the Mississippi and Rio Grande rivers. They were introduced to the Cape Fear in 1964 by a state hatchery manager without his agency's approval, said Tom Kwak, a biologist with the local U.S. Geological Survey fish and wildlife research unit.
Although something keeps the flathead catfish population in check in its native habitat, the fish thrive in the Southeast. Flatheads live now in rivers across North Carolina's coastal plain and the lower Piedmont. Fishermen probably expanded the flatheads territory in the state by dropping them into rivers where they didn't live before, Kwak said.
Trouble is, there is only so much space in the rivers for fish. The big catfish eat their smaller cousins who were there first, including white catfish and bullheads. They gobble fish once more numerous here, such as redbreast sunfish. They munch on shad, even on endangered species such as redhorse suckers.
"They are a menace," said Wayne Starnes, fishes curator with the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences. He wants to see flatheads formally designated an "injurious" species.
But a lot of fishermen love the challenge of catching the underwater giants.
Newberger, who works by day as a trailer company shop foreman, said fisherman today can't undo past mistakes. He has set his sights on beating the national record, a 123-pounder caught in Independence, Kan., in 1994.
"It's down in this river somewhere," he said Tuesday. "I just have to bide my time."
(News researcher Susan Ebbs contributed to this report.)
Staff writer Catherine Clabby can be reached at 956-2414 or cclabby@newsobserver.com.
News researcher Susan Ebbs contributed to this report.
It took Brian Newberger of Fayetteville 40 minutes to haul in a 78-pound flathead.
By CATHERINE CLABBY, Staff Writer
After midnight on his secret spot on the Cape Fear River, Brian Newberger landed the biggest catfish ever caught in North Carolina.
The Fayetteville man's new entry in the state record book tells part of the story: 78 pounds, 52 inches long, 3 feet around. Big.
But some biologists say the sheer size of the catch shows that flathead catfish are dominating waters where they are not native, at a cost to other fish.
Late on Sept. 17, Newberger, a lifelong fisherman, motored his 20-foot pontoon boat to a spot he'd long watched above the No. 3 lock and dam on the Cape Fear near Fayetteville. He was certain giant catfish fed there.
Newberger cut a live, 14-inch eel so it would bleed and attached it to his hook. The big flathead catfish took the bait. It fought Newberger for 40 minutes before he could haul it aboard. "They're like a bull in the water," he said.
The fisherman, who set his sights on a record, knew right away his catch beat the 69-pound state title catfish caught in the Cape Fear in 1994. He kept his fish alive in a custom-made tank inside his boat until he could place it on state-certified scales.
After an N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission biologist confirmed its weight and girth, Newberger released the fish back into the river just after 10 a.m.
"I put all my fish back," said Newberger, 45. "That's one of God's creations."
Maybe. But the flathead's presence in this state is people's work.
Flathead catfish aren't native to North Carolina. They hail from the basins of the Mississippi and Rio Grande rivers. They were introduced to the Cape Fear in 1964 by a state hatchery manager without his agency's approval, said Tom Kwak, a biologist with the local U.S. Geological Survey fish and wildlife research unit.
Although something keeps the flathead catfish population in check in its native habitat, the fish thrive in the Southeast. Flatheads live now in rivers across North Carolina's coastal plain and the lower Piedmont. Fishermen probably expanded the flatheads territory in the state by dropping them into rivers where they didn't live before, Kwak said.
Trouble is, there is only so much space in the rivers for fish. The big catfish eat their smaller cousins who were there first, including white catfish and bullheads. They gobble fish once more numerous here, such as redbreast sunfish. They munch on shad, even on endangered species such as redhorse suckers.
"They are a menace," said Wayne Starnes, fishes curator with the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences. He wants to see flatheads formally designated an "injurious" species.
But a lot of fishermen love the challenge of catching the underwater giants.
Newberger, who works by day as a trailer company shop foreman, said fisherman today can't undo past mistakes. He has set his sights on beating the national record, a 123-pounder caught in Independence, Kan., in 1994.
"It's down in this river somewhere," he said Tuesday. "I just have to bide my time."
(News researcher Susan Ebbs contributed to this report.)
Staff writer Catherine Clabby can be reached at 956-2414 or cclabby@newsobserver.com.
News researcher Susan Ebbs contributed to this report.