Application of the average daily expenditures per fisherman to the 

 total estimated mmber of fishermaji<»days for each area results in the fol- 

 lowing estimated values: Below Gibson Reservoir, §50,909; Gibson Reservoir, 

 55j,880| above Gibson Reservoir, $7,148; and Wood Lake, 52,364 (table 10). 

 It was estiinated that 6,636 pounds of fish were taken from waters below 

 Gibson Reservoir, 1,415 pounds were taken from Gibson Reservoir, 832 pounds 

 were taken above Gibson Reservoir, and 199 pounds were taken from Wood Lake; 

 thus, the costs per pound of fish were about $7,67, $4,16, $8,59, and §11,88, 

 respectively. 



Discussion 



Comparisons of the various check areas of the llorth Fork Sun River 

 study area on the basis of total fishing pressure and yield have already 

 been made, and considerable variation has been shovm (tables 5 and 6), 

 Variations in the physical and biological nature of the bodies of water, 

 and more particularly in accessibility, lessen the significance of any 

 comparison on this basis. 



Fishing success, as measured by the rate of catch, offers a somewhat 

 better means for comparison in judging the relative merits of the various 

 waters. While rates of catch also may be affected by many of the same 

 factors that cause variation in the total number of fi she rroan -days and 

 yield, these values afford the best common denominator for comparison from 

 the point of view of the angler. 



There was considerable variation betvTOen the several check areas of 

 the study even on the basis of fishing success (table 2); but, in general, 

 rate of catch in terms of fish per hour and pounds of fish per hour of 

 effort was better on the- streams than, on the reservoirs. With the excep- 

 tion of the 1-mile IJorth Fork-South Fork area where the rate of catch was 

 0,16 fish per (0,14 pounds per hour), the seasonal rates of catch for the 

 streams in the area ranged from 0,38 to 0,78 fish per hour, while the rate 

 of catch on the reservoirs varied from 0,06 to 0,38 fish per hour. With 

 respect to pounds of fish per hour, fishing success on the streams varied 

 from 0,13 to 0,34, as compared with 0,10 to 0,29 for the reservoirs, 



A number of creel-census studies have been made of other streams and 

 reservoirs throughout the country; and, although for a variety of reasons 

 few of these other bodies of water are comparable to those in the llorth 

 Fork Sun River study area, comparisons on the basis of rate of catch pro- 

 vide a general idea of the relative quality of 'the fishing in waters of the 

 North Fork Sun River study area, A comparison of rates of catch for streams 

 is shovm in table 11 and for reservoirs in table 12, 



The rates of catch for streams in the study area, when tabulated with 

 respect to numbers of fish caught per hours, occur in the lower three quar- 

 ters of the other studies listed and therefore can be considered as 



28 



