Figure 7. — Typical mixed catch of Lake Erie fish from the western basin; catch was dominated by carp, sheepshead, yellow perch, 



and alewife. 



fathoms off Lakeside, Ohio. Smelt were taken in all 

 trawl drags in amounts of 1 to 75 pounds. During 

 previous cruises, smelt accounted for only a very 

 small portion of the total Western Basin landings; 

 during this cruise, however, smelt made up 8.2% of 

 the catch, a rise of 6% over Cruise 11 (Fig. 7). 



Central Basin 



Collectively, for all four cruises in the Central 

 Basin the 21,351 pounds offish landed yielded an 

 average Vi-hr catch rate of 179.3 pounds. 



The Central Basin has a surface area of 6,246 

 square miles and accounts for 62.9% of the total 

 area of Lake Erie. The U.S. waters of this basin 

 provide numerous areas suitable for bottom trawl- 

 ing. The shallow waters, however, are generally not 



suited to trawling because of rough bottom or the 

 presence of stationary gill nets or trap nets. 



Cruise 2 produced 589 pounds of fish with an 

 average '/2-hr catch rate of 19 pounds. Best '/i-hr 

 catches of smelt were 65 pounds taken off Fairport. 

 Ohio, at a depth of 13 fathoms, and 75 pounds at 7 

 fathoms off Lorain, Ohio. Only one notable catch 

 of yellow perch ( 1 10 pounds) was made just east of 

 Kelleys Island in the extreme western end of the 

 Central Basin. 



Cruise 4 produced 6,647 pounds of fish at an av- 

 erage !/*>-hr catch rate of 247 pounds. The average 

 Vi-hr catch rate of yellow perch was 169 pounds; 

 concentrations of young-of-the-year were heavy in 

 11, 12, and 13 fathoms from Erie, Pa., to Vermilion, 

 Ohio. Smelt, gizzard shad, and freshwater drum 

 — the second, third, and fourth most abundant 



