Mississippi catfish Channel catfish populations in the upper Mississippi River continue to show improvement after the regulation change imposed in 1985, according to John Pitlo, DNR fisheries biologist. The regulation change increased the legal length limit for commercially harvested channel catfish from 13 inches to 15 inches. Today, the commercial harvest of channel catfish is the highest since the 1960s. Initially, it looked as if we were in a four-year cycle with channel catfish year classes. Some of the faster growing fish from 1995 will be in anglers' stringers this summer.
Channel catfish continue to be a big part of the anglers' catch on the Mississippi River.
During the summer surveys of anglers fishing Pools 11 and 13 from 1994-1997, channel catfish ranked second behind freshwater drum as the most numerous species taken. The density of channel catfish in the Upper Mississippi River is the highest it has been in 30 years and is expected to remain high due to the regulation change imposed in 1985. Larry Myhre is editor of The Journal.