726 



Fishery Bulletin 88(4). 1990 



Discussion 



Private vessel anglers and charterboat operators 

 caught a total of 61227 fish representing over 46 dif- 

 ferent species. The fishing habits and boat character- 

 istics of study participants were as expected. Peak 

 fishing by private vessel anglers and charterboat 

 operators occurred during the summer which agreed 

 with past studies by Ditton and Auyong (1984) and 

 Stanley and Wilson (1989). During other times of the 

 year, cold fronts and other severe forms of weather 

 make fishing off the coast of Louisiana nearly impos- 



sible or at least uncomfortal)le. Based on number of 

 trips, the most prevalent fishing method was offshore 

 bottom fishing, with nearshore and offshore trolling the 

 next most popular methods for the study participants. 

 Private vessel anglers and charterboat operators 

 utilized the entire range of platform sizes and opera- 

 tional types off the coast of Louisiana. Single well 

 structures, steel template platforms, and mobile semi- 

 submersible drilling platforms were commonly fished, 

 although certain trends in platform size utilization 

 and fishing method were apparent. Nearshore anglers 

 most often fished at the small, single well structures 



