July, 1955 
in size between channel catfish and flat- 
head catfish taken in 1-inch-mesh wing 
nets and these same kinds of fish taken in 
basket traps was not significant. 
The basket trap is considered by com- 
mercial fishermen of the upper Missis- 
sippi as an efficient device for catching 
catfish. It provides the fisherman with a 
device that usually does not take sport fish 
and that can catch channel catfish as efh- 
STARRETT & BARNICKOL: COMMERCIAL FISHING DEVICES 
345 
ciently as does the l-inch-mesh wing net, 
which is illegal for use in the upper Mis- 
sissippi. he basket trap was found to be 
one of the most selective fishing devices 
tested on the river. 
Catches With Wing Nets.—The 
catches made with wing nets during the 
survey tend to indicate that commercial 
fishermen of the upper Mississippi might 
well increase their catches by using these 
Table 10.—Composition of catches of commercial-sized or desirable-sized fish taken in 
l-inch-mesh wing nets with leads and in l-inch-mesh wing nets without leads in fisheries survey 
of the Mississippi River between Caruthersville and Hannibal, Missouri, 1944. 
1-Incu-Mesu Winco Nets 1-Incu-Mesu Winco Nets 
Wirn Leaps Wiruovut Leaps 
(175.40 Ner-Days) (330.51 Net-Days) can 
Kinp oF FisH SQUARE 
Pounds Number | Pounds Number VALUE 
per Number per per Number per 
Net-Day Net-Day | Net-Day Net-Day 
La) ees 2.29 152 0.87 Dao 255 0.77 0.99 
Bigmouth buffalo...| 0.26 15 0.09 0.04 3 0.01 18.48* 
Smallmouth buffalo . 0.41 11 0.06 0.09 7 0.02 5.40* 
Freshwater drum.... 0.26 61 0.35 0.34 146 0.44 218 
Channel catfish. .... 0.11 13 0.07 0.21 35 0.11 lS? 
Flathead catfish..... 0.75 33 0.19 0.99 68 0.21 0.24 
Bltepille to... oe. -— 175 1.00 — 42 0.13 198.74* 
White crappie...... — 107 0.61 = 138 0.42 8.11* 
Black crappie....... = 410 2.34 _ 285 0.86 175. 86* 
* Denotes a significant difference, 
types of nets at 0.05 level with 1 degree of freedom. 
in numbers of commercial-sized 
or desirable-sized fish taken, between the two 
Table 11.—Size ranges and means of the total lengths of fish taken in l-inch-mesh wing 
nets with leads and in 1-inch-mesh wing nets without leads in fisheries survey of the Mississippi 
River between Caruthersville and Hannibal, Missouri, 1944. 
1-Incu-Mesu Winc Nets 
Wirn Leaps 
aos = 08 
of [2 | £6 4 
Kinp oF Fisu og S 5.8 ci 
ins g & 2 ‘Ss w S 
Ssn\a.8| pS] Se 
eo EM) a = os 
0 25)55/ 2a Ne 
GB eae] a ie 
(CARSDR So eae 40.2} 378} 13.99} §.2-25.6 
Bigmouth buffalo.| 42.9! 35] 14.09} 7.0-22.3 
Smallmouth buf- 
ALOMAR a2 9.7| 113} 10.58) 4.8-22.6 
Freshwater drum.| 36.5} 167} 8.85) 4.1-15.1 
Channel catfish...) 23.6) 55) 12.19] 6.4-19.6 
Flathead catfish..) 37.5) 88) 16.81] 8.4-36.2 
Bluegillls os... 43.6] 401) 6.49) 3.9- 8.3 
White crappie....| 59.8] 182} 8.04) 4.0-12.7 
Black crappie....| 67.8} 605| 7.86) 4.4-11.5 
| 
HQRrOPRWN WwW 
Standard 
1-IncH-MeEsH Wino NEts 
Wirnout Leaps 
ea |¢ | a8 
Sieben ae P 
Siw 5 n a Silla on = n 
Be 2 S| eel oa bg E.g/as| a 
p/|o ow | D se Sr] =) 
ti1O.Snyni/e.8] «so oat 38/29) 3 
Ble ss 4la_| ge) es: |S el eal 
Altealz<|/S3] se |nalac! 7 
47| 40.7) 627) 14.03) 5.2-30.7|3.40| 48610.174 
49| 33.3 9) 14.72}10.0-21.6/3.99| 17/0.433 
05} 11.1] 72) 11.11] 5.6-20.9]3.34 890.968 
59| 35.5} 411) 8.97) 3.8-16.4/2.28) 26110.522 
.25| 27.8} 126) 12.08) 2.5-24.5/4.38} 82/0.188 
.18} 34.3} 198} 16.04) 7.0-41.2/4.85} 131/1.367 
.81) 42.4) 99) 6.59) 4.3- 8.2/0.76} 198/1.156 
89} 52.5] 263) 7.76) 4.6-15.2)1.38) 218|1.707 
09) 66.1} 431) 8.27) 4.5-12.0)1.17| 510)2.975* 
* Denotes a significant difference, in sizes of fish taken, between the two types of nets at 0.05 level for degrees of 
freedom indicated. 
