Angler effort and catch within a spatially complex system of small lakes

Abstract

a b s t r a c tSpatial layout of waterbodies and waterbody size can affect a creel clerk's ability to intercept anglers for interviews and to accurately count anglers, which will affect the accuracy and precision of estimates of effort and catch. This study aimed to quantify angling effort and catch across a spatially complex system of 19 small (<100 ha) lakes, the Fremont lakes. Total (±SE) angling effort (hours) on individual lakes ranged from 0 (0) to 7,137 (305). Bank anglers utilized 18 of the 19 lakes, and their mean (±SE) trip lengths (hours) ranged from 0.80 (0.31) to 7.75 (6.75), depending on the waterbody. In contrast, boat anglers utilized 14 of the 19 lakes, and their trip lengths ranged from 1.39 (0.24) to 4.25 (0.71), depending on the waterbody. The most sought fishes, as indexed by number of lakes on which effort was exerted, were anything (17 of 19 lakes), largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides (15 of 19 lakes), and channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus (13 of 19 lakes). Bluegill Lepomis machrochirus, crappie Pomoxis spp., and largemouth bass were caught most frequently across the lakes, but catch rates varied considerably by lake. Of the 1,138 parties interviewed, most parties (93%) visited a single lake but there were 77 (7%) parties that indicated that they had visited multiple lakes during a single day. The contingent of parties that visited more than one lake a day were primarily (87%) bank anglers.. The number of lake-to-lake connections made by anglers visiting more than one waterbody during a single day was related to catch rates and total angling effort. The greater resolution that was achieved with a lake specific creel survey at Fremont lakes revealed a system of lakes with a large degree of spatial variation in angler effort and catch that would be missed by a coarser, system-wide survey that did not differentiate individual lakes.

Interaction of ecological and angler processes: experimental stocking in an open access, spatially structured fishery

“…, Chizinski et al. ). Local harvest dynamics therefore depend on catch‐dependent and catch‐independent attributes of patches, as well as on anglers’ utility functions.…”

“…, Chizinski et al. ). This heterogeneity of angler effort and the application of the concept of ideal free distribution (IFD; Fretwell , Sutherland , Tregenza ) to spatially structured fisheries with mobile anglers has resulted in inferences of homogenization of fish abundance (or other measures of fishing quality) among fishing lakes of equal access cost (Matsumura et al.…”

“…In the context of predator–prey systems, angler effort dynamics have been characterized as the emergent response of anglers to measures of fish abundance (Johnson and Carpenter , Chizinski et al. ) or to aggregate measures of fishing quality incorporating both fish abundance and fish size (Post et al. , Post and Parkinson , Wilson et al., in press), as well as non‐catch attributes (such as accessibility and crowding) and angler utility functions (Arlinghaus et al.…”

A Mark–Recapture‐Based Approach for Estimating Angler Harvest

“…The need for more efficient and effective methods of monitoring fishery use has recently motivated development of new statistical and technological methods for estimating fishing effort and related parameters (Chizinksi et al. ; Hartill et al. ; McCormick ; Pope et al.…”

Using posts to an online social network to assess fishing effort

“…Traditional creel surveys are difficult to implement on multiple individual reservoirs within a region because they are expensive and logistically difficult to conduct (Lester et al, 2003;Chizinski et al, 2014). Furthermore, among-reservoir variation in amenities, fish communities, and other recreational opportunities complicates the expansion of results from a subset of single reservoirs to all reservoirs in a region.…”