July, 1955 
upper Mississippi, there is usually a more 
abundant population of sport fishes than 
in the river channel. 
In figs. 11 and 12, the total catches for 
all species of fish taken with entrapment 
devices are presented graphically. Spe- 
cies composition differences between the 
two sections of the river sampled in 1944 
and 1946 account for most of the catch 
differences reflected in the graphs for the 
2 years of test-netting. Differences be- 
tween 1944 and 1946 in the number of 
sport fish taken per net-day are apparent 
in the graphs. The data in table 5 are not 
suited for detailed analysis, since fishing 
with the different types of gear was not 
in all cases done simultaneously. 
In order to have some standard for 
comparing the efficiency and selectivity of 
the various entrapment devices, it was de- 
sirable to select a device that was fished 
at all the stations. The only entrapment 
device that met this requirement was the 
8 
FISH PER NET DAY 
a 
WING NET 
1 1/2-INCH 
MESH 
WING NET 
I-INCH MESH 
NO LEAD 
WING NET 
I-INCH MESH 
WITH LEAD 
STARRETT & BARNICKOL: COMMERCIAL FISHING DeEvIcEs 
CLA: 
339 
l-inch-mesh wing net without a lead. In 
the following catch analyses, the data for 
the l-inch-mesh wing net without a lead 
are used from only those stations at which 
one or more of the other devices were 
fished. 
The analyses concern largely the 
catches of the nine most important com- 
mercial and sport fishes occurring in the 
Caruthersville-Dubuque section of the 
river: carp, bigmouth buffalo, smallmouth 
buftalo, freshwater drum, channel catfish, 
flathead catfish, black crappie, white 
crappie, and bluegill. 
In tests for significant differences in 
numbers of a species caught by various en- 
trapment devices, only fish of commercial 
or desirable sizes were included. The fol- 
lowing minimum total lengths were used: 
15 inches for carp, buffalofishes, and 
channel catfish; 10 inches for freshwater 
drum; 18 inches for flathead catfish; 8 
inches for crappies; 7 inches for bluegill. 
COMMERCIAL FISHES 
MI SPORT FISHES 
PREDATORY FISHES 
FORAGE FISHES 
BASKET 
TRAP 
WING NET 
2 1/2-INCH 
MESH 
HOOP NET 
2 \/2—-INCH 
MESH 
Fig. 11—The number of fish, all sizes, taken per net-day in entrapment devices fished in 
the Mississippi River between Caruthersville and Warsaw in 1944. 
