May, 1945 



Bennett: Overfishing^ Onized Lake 



379 



Table 3. — Statistics on anglers' catch of fish from Onized Lake, 1938-194L 



Date 



Number of Number of 

 Man-Hours Fish 



OF Fishing Caught 



1938 



September. . . 117.00 



October 17.75 



Season 134 . 75 



1939 



April 163.25 



May 717.50 



June 847.25 



July 602 . 50 



August 251.00 



September. . . 135.25 



October 113.00 



Season 2,829.75 



1940 



April 30.50 



May 995.80 



June 947.20 



July 459.00 



August 484.00 



September... 343.00 



October 35.00 



Season 3,294.50 



1941 



April 267.30 



May 652.70 



June 347.90 



Season 1,267.90 



Grand total.. 7,526.90 



23 



5 



28 



147 



834 



793 



299 



40 



14 



33 



2,160 



25 



370 



290 



89 



328 



71 



2 



1,175 



143 

 255 

 236 

 634 



3,997 



Total 

 Weight 

 OF Fish, 



Pounds 



21.50 



4.25 



25.75 



51.38 



259.72 

 246 . 56 

 79.75 

 24.00 

 27.00 

 11.50 

 699.91 



7.60 

 93.75 

 76.15 

 20.83 

 66.44 

 17.26 



3.00 

 285.03 



40.75 



63.24 



37.75 



141.74 



Average 

 Weight 

 OF Fish, 

 Pounds 



0.93 

 0.85 

 0.92 



0.35 

 0.31 

 0.31 

 0.27 

 0.60 

 1.93 

 0.35 

 0.32 



0.30 

 0.25 

 0.26 

 0.23 

 0.20 

 0.24 

 1.50 

 0.24 



0.28 

 0.25 

 0.16 

 0.22 



Number of 



Fish Per 



Man-Hour 



Pounds of 



Fish Per 



Man-Hour 



0.197 

 0.282 

 0.208 



0.900 

 1.162 

 0.936 

 0.496 

 0.159 

 0.104 

 0.292 

 0.763 



0.820 

 0.372 

 0.306 

 0.194 

 0.678 

 0.207 

 0.057 

 0.357 



0.535 

 0.391 

 0.678 

 0.500 



1,152.43 Grand average 0.531 



0.184 

 0.239 

 0.191 



0.315 

 0.362 

 0.291 

 0.132 

 0.096 

 0.200 

 0.102 

 0.247 



0.249 

 0.094 

 080 

 0.045 

 0.137 

 0.050 

 0.086 

 0.086 



0.152 

 0.097 

 0.108 

 0.112 



0.153 



was smaller and that the new broods of 

 young were unable to grow fast enough 

 to reach the size range of interest to 

 anglers. No accurate records were made 

 of the number of small fish returned to 

 the lake by fishermen, but verbal informa- 

 tion obtained from persons familiar with 

 the situation suggests that in 1940 many 

 more fish were returned than were taken. 

 Table 3 shows also that the average weight 

 of fish taken in 1940 was considerably less 

 than that in 1939. The fishing intensity 

 actually increased in 1940 over that of 

 1939 by about 16 per cent. 



In both 1939 and 1940, more fish were 

 caught in May and June than during other 

 months, with the exception of August of 

 1940 ; also, the fishing intensity was greater 

 in May and June than at other times. 



The catch per man-hour was highest 



during May of 1939 when 1.162 fish were 

 taken per hour of effort. June of 1939 

 was also a productive month, although the 

 rate dropped to 0.936 fish per man-hour. 

 The unusual August rate of catch in 1940 



Table 4. — Hook-and-line yield and fishing 

 intensity per acre of water in Onized Lake, 

 area 2 acres, 1938,* 1939, 1940 and 194Lt 



Number of Weight Man-Hours 

 Year of Fish of Fish, of 



Caught Pounds Fishing 



1938*. 

 1939. . 

 1940. . 

 1941t. 



*Only September and October In thi.s ye.ir. 

 tOnly April, May and June in tlils year. 



