Kenneth K. Cunningham, Oklahoma Fishery Research Lab, 500 East Constellation, Norman, Oklahoma 73072

Abstract. Fisheries personnel with the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation began using electrofishing in 1991 to assess flathead catfish Pylodictis olivaris populations in reservoirs. While this type of sampling is highly effective, it is also labor intensive because of the perceived need for a chase boat to facilitate the capture of stunned individuals. During summer 1997, I compared electrofishing with and without a chase boat on three Oklahoma reservoirs to assess the benefit of using a chase boat while conducting flathead catfish electrofishing surveys. I detected no significant differences between the two methods when comparing capture efficiency, mean C/f (numbers of stunned flathead catfish per 3 min of electrofishing) or length frequency distribution. I recommend chase boats no longer be used while sampling for flathead catfish in reservoirs. This recommendation would result in a 33-50% decrease in labor and a 50% decrease in sampling equipment needed when conducting these types of surveys in Oklahoma.