Wildlife officials are urging anglers to catch as many flathead as they can and report them to the state Wildlife Resources Division, but not to release them back into the Ogeechee.

“They are going to be one of the apex predators around every system once they establish those populations,” Wildlife Resources biologist Joel Fleming told The Telegraph of Macon. “If they can fit it in their mouth, they’re going to eat it.”

A commercial fisherman had caught one flathead in the river in December 2021, but none of the fish had been found since then, despite extensive sampling.