Seven species of fish were identified from fishermen's creels in 1957 and 1958. These, in order of abundance were: channel catfish; carp; freshwater drum; flathead catfish; shovelnose sturgeon; smallmouth buffalo; and river carpsucker. Shovelnose sturgeon occurred in fishermen's creels only in April, 1957, and freshwater drum occurred more frequently in the spring-census of 1957 than in the summer of 1958.

Sixty-two of the fishermen interviewed in 1958 were fishing for "anything they could catch," 68 were fishing specifically for catfish, and 22 sought species other than catfish. The order of preference was as follows: channel catfish, 21.1 per cent; flathead catfish, 15.1 per cent; unspecified catfish, 12.5 per cent; carp, 9.2 per cent; freshwater drum, 1.3 per cent; and unspecified, 40.8 per cent. The kinds of fish desired by those fishermen checked in 1957 were not ascertained.

Of all fishermen checked in 1957 and 1958, 165 were men, 17 were women, and 24 were children. Ninety-three per cent were fishing from the bank, five per cent were fishing from bridges, and two per cent were wading. All but two per cent of those checked were fishing "tightline"; the remainder fished with a cork.

The ten baits most commonly used, in order of frequency, were worms, doughballs, minnows, liver, beef-spleen, chicken-entrails, coagulated blood, crayfish, shrimp, and corn.

For purposes of later comparison the data on angler success ([Table 4]) have been divided according to areas: Area I, below Tuttle Creek Dam; Area II, in the Tuttle Creek Reservoir area; and Area III, above the reservoir. Areas I and III received the most fishing pressure, especially Station 4-S (in Area I), and Station 56-S (in Area III).

In Area I, the success ranged from 0.91 fish per fisherman-day in 1957 to 0.26 fish per fisherman-day in 1958. The 1957 census was made in April and May, when fishing in warm-water streams is considered better than in July (Harrison, 1956:203). The 1958 census was from late June through July, and stream-flow in this period was continuously above normal. Therefore, fewer people fished the river, and catches were irregular. Catches in 1958 ranged from 0.26 fish per fisherman-day in Area I to 0.44 fish per fisherman-day in Area III. In 1951, in the Republican River of Kansas and Nebraska, the average fisherman-day yielded 0.36 fish, 0.09 fish per man-hour, and 0.06 fish per pole-hour (U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1952:13-14). The average fisherman-day in the Republican River study was 3.0 hours, whereas the average on the Big Blue River was 2.2 hours for all areas in 1958 ([Table 4]).

Table 4. Angling Success in the Big Blue River, Kansas, 1957 and 1958.

Area, Year, and Number
of Fishermen		Average length of fisherman-dayNumber fish per fisherman-dayNumber fish per man-hourNumber fish per pole-hour [A]
Area I, 1957
53 fishermen		2.7 hours0.910.330.23
Area I, 1958
84 fishermen		2.5 hours0.260.100.07
Area II, 1958
27 fishermen		1.7 hours0.370.220.14
Area III, 1958
41 fishermen		2.4 hours0.440.160.11
All areas, 1958
152 fishermen		2.2 hours0.330.140.09

[A] Fishermen used an average of 1.44 poles.

In the Big Blue River 47.7 per cent of all fishermen were successful in Area I in 1957, while only 13.1 per cent were successful in the same area in 1958 ([Table 5]). In the Republican River, 24 per cent of the fishing parties were successful (1.64 persons per party) (U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, loc. cit.). The average distance that each fisherman had traveled to fish in the Big Blue River was 15.7 miles. Seventy-nine per cent of the persons contacted lived within 25 miles of the spots where they fished. In the study on the Republican River, 77 per cent of the parties interviewed came less than 25 miles to fish.