Behavior Patterns 243 



catch of fish,'^' '^' ^^^ and their reserved conclusions were that fishing 

 usually was better in darkness. 



Other fishing tables and fads have come and gone without serious 

 damage to fish populations or the fishing public; there is no danger in 

 them and they add interest and theory to the age-old question of why 

 fish bite when thev do and wliv thev do not bite at other times. 



•-a 



Oh 





All Fishes 

 Water Levels 



"~ 1 1 1 r 1 1 I I 



May June July August May June July August 

 1950 1951 



CD 



> 



Figure 8.2. Weekly average water levels and corresponding average catches 

 of fish per fisherman-day (all species) at Lake Chautauqua during May, June, 

 July, and August of 1950 and 1951. [From Starrett, W. C, and McNeil, P. L., 

 Ill Nat. Hist. Biol. Notes, 30 (1952)] 



Resistance of Fish to Being Caught. All living organisms show ability 

 to counter decimating forces in their environments by developing re- 

 sistance or immunity (to disease), by instincts, or by learned avoidance 

 reactions. In angling, the fish may be confronted by a food item presented 

 in a particular manner (worm on a hook), by an object that is supposed 

 to look and act like some natural food (crippled minnow lure) or an 

 object that attracts because of its movements and lack of identifying 

 characteristics (the fish is supposed to strike to find out what the object 



