(k) Amount of fishing provided 



The 958 pond owners who reported some fishing In their ponds 

 estimated that a total of 27,246 persons participated in this 

 popular form of recreation. Thus, the typical pond was fished by 

 28 persons during its first year of productive fishing. Since 

 the ponds averaged 1.72 acres, this gives an estimate of I6 fish- 

 ermen per acre of pond. Of the anglers, 52 percent were men; 23 

 percent were women; and 25 percent were children (15 years and 

 less) . The percent of women and children is higher for pond 

 fishing than is generally reported for public waters. This sug- 

 gests linique values of pond fishing which may be related to close- 

 ness to home, greater safety, and possible lower cost of pond 

 fishing. 



The estimate of 103,85^4- fisherman- days provided by the 1,000 

 ponds s-urveyed is subject to limited interpretation since accurate 

 records were not available. The 958 ponds provided fishing in 

 1959 at the rate of IO8 fisherman-days per pond, or 6k fisherman- 

 days per acre of water. 



The 1955 National Survey of Fishing and Hunting revealed that 

 the typical fisherman fished 9«5 days per year. Since the present 

 study showed that k fisherman- days per angler was typical in farm 

 ponds, the importance of this type of fishing for those enjoying 

 it is quite substantial. The over-all importance of fishing in 

 ponds stocked by the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife is 

 presented later in this report. 



(5) Catch of fish 



While only 13 pond owners reported that they kept accurate 

 records of the fish taken from their ponds, 893 gave estimates 

 of the catch. The catch from 82l4- ponds reporting largemouth bass 

 taken, averaged 5^ bass per acre. This is a high return, consid- 

 ering that the bass were stocked as small fingerllngs and at rates 

 varying from 50 to 100 per acre. If all ponds reporting fishing 

 are included, the catch of bass still remains high at 46 per acre. 



The catch of bluegill and other sunflsh from 789 ponds aver- 

 aged 276 fish per acre. Prorated on a basis of the 958 ponds 

 providing some fishing, the catch was 228 of these fish per acre. 

 The percent return is lower than for the bass, possibly for several 

 reasons: some of the bluegill were eaten by the bass as forage; 

 bluegill and other sunflsh are not as highly prized by the angler 

 and there is less fishing pressure for them; they may not have 

 reached a desirable size by the first year of fishing. 



