The introduction of any fish not normally found in a river can throw an aquatic ecosystem off balance. According to Dan Tredinnick of the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, fish don't always have to travel very far to cause trouble.

"The flathead catfish is a species of catfish that is native to the western part of Pennsylvania, but isn't naturally found in eastern waters. Unfortunately over the last couple of years, we have seen them start to show up, first in the Schuylkill River, and now we've found them in the Susquehanna River, outside of Lancaster."

Tredinnick says flatheads have a tendency to crowd out other fish species because of their large size and voracious appetites. While it's hard to remove flatheads from a river system once they're introduced, the Fish and Boat Commission is advising anybody who catches one not to throw it back in the water.

A few weeks ago, Greg Misenko caught the first documented flathead in the Susquehanna River. He says flatheads might make life difficult for other river fish, but Misenko knows what to do with the catfish he finds.

"They're good eatin'. They're really good. The meat's a different texture than catfish. I'd almost put it between walleye and bass the actual texture. And it's not real fishy. I've only had it once, this one I caught I ate. And it was really good."

Misenko says the fish he caught was small, weighing about 12 ounces. But in Pennsylvania, flatheads have been known to grow as large as fifty pounds.

More information's available on the web at GreenWorks.tv. I'm Brad Linder