346 
nets more. Wing nets are particularly 
adapted to fishing backwater and slough 
areas. In the canalized section of the up- 
per Mississippi, there are now more 
slough and backwater areas than in years 
previous to the construction of dams. In 
periods of low water, when the current 
is too sluggish for hoop nets, wing nets 
can be used to advantage. 
In that part of the survey made in 
1944, several 1-inch-mesh wing nets 
were fished with leads and others were 
Ittinois Naturat History Survey BULLETIN 
Vol. 26, Art. 4 
fished without leads. In table 10 are 
listed, for each of nine species, the num- 
bers of commercial fish of commercial 
sizes and sport fish of desirable or usable 
sizes caught in these nets. The catch per 
net-day of buffalofishes of commercial 
sizes was somewhat greater and the catch 
of crappies and bluegills of desirable sizes 
was much greater in the nets with leads 
than in the nets without leads. With re- 
spect to each of the other species of fish 
listed, the difference between the catch 
Table 12—Composition of catches of commercial-sized or desirable-sized fish taken in 
114-inch-mesh wing nets (most without leads) and in 1-inch-mesh wing nets (without leads) in 
fisheries survey of the Mississippi River between Grand Tower and Warsaw, Illinois, 1944. 
114-Incu-MesH Wine Nets 1-IncH-Mesu Wino Nets 
(156.10 Net-Days) (508.12 Net-Days) as 
H - 
Kinp oF FisH SQUARE 
Pounds Number | Pounds Number VALUE 
per Number per per Number per 
Net-Day Net-Day | Net-Day Net-Day 
Samet Sars Sas 3.09 194 1.24 2.18 413 0.81 21.09* 
Bigmouth buffalo. . 0.09 3 0.02 0.04 6 0.01 0.43 
Smallmouth buffalo . — 0 — 0.08 13 0.03 a 
Freshwater drum.... 0.38 M2 0.46 0.39 255 0.50 0.71 
Channel catfish. .... 0.08 6 0.04 0.20 59 0.12 Pelee 
Flathead catfish... .. 1.05 40 0.26 0.78 86 0.17 4.14* 
Blnerulaerss. sik wick — 12 0.08 - 49 0.10 0.63 
White crappie...... — Si 0.32 — 319 0.63 21 
Black crappie....... — 66 0.42 — 496 0.98 46.29* 
* Denotes a significant difference, in numbers of commercial-sized or desirable-sized fish taken, between the two 
types of nets at 0.05 level with 1 degree of freedom. 
Table 13.—Size ranges and means of the total lengths of fish taken in 1!4-inch-mesh wing 
nets (most without leads) and in l-inch-mesh wing nets (without leads) in fisheries survey of 
the Mississipp' River between Grand Tower and Warsaw, Illinois, 1944. 
114-Incu-Mesu Winc Nets 1-IncH-MesuH Wine NEts 
sa |¢ | 28 ga |g la 
5G. see oe Sa tee ee ; 
Kinp or Fisu |, & «| Sill pa eMail es Es Sp rs 
Be sagt = Essel le gl se I Pisias| w 
OsH|8S) ce | g jes sulas) «8 | ag fsslgs| 8 
A a) Se os a5), 20/8“ cs 50 os S5/0 wo < 
0 Y5|35| Ya Ng SY) o val ea| Ya Ne |S2)28| = 
ME aAc) a Ae |NAlMealZc] sy Ae InAlOm) «a 
Bese Bice sa npn Shee, 54.5) 356) 14.96} 7.0-22.7/2.37| 46.6] 886] 14.47| 5.2-30.7/3.34| 561) 2.908* 
Bigmouth buffalo.| 75.0) 4) 16.88/12.6-22.3/4.45] 46.2} 13] 14.92/10.0-21.6/2.88 6) 0.829 
Smallmouth buf- 
i Fates See 0.0) 29) 10.47) 7.7-14.0)1.78| 7.8] 166] 11.36) 5.6-28.0/2.83| 68] 2.242* 
Freshwater drum.| 80.0} 90] 11.23) 6.6-16.8|1.93] 43.4] 588] 9.45] 3.8-16.4/2.28) 229 7.954* 
Channel catfish...| 60.0) 10] 16.20)11.1-21.1/3.20) 24.0] 246) 12.85] 2.8-24.5|3.33) 49) 3.240* 
Flathead catfish. .| 50.6] 79) 18.38|/12.3-31.0|3.71| 29.5] 292] 16.28] 7.0-41.2/4.38| 151] 4.287* 
Bluegill..........| 40.0) 30) 6.57) 5.6- 8.0/0.63} 33:1] 148] 6.43] 4.2- 8.210.79| 66] 1.058 
White crappie....| 61.4) 83) 8.39) 5.7-12.4|1.50) 54.9] 581) 7.94] 4.6-15.2]1.46| 219] 2.564* 
Black crappie... .| 52.4) 126] 8.08! 6.1-10.9|1.07| 70.9] 700] 8.43] 4.5-12.0/1.25| 296] 3.293* 
* Denotes a significant difference, 
of freedom indicated. 
in sizes of fish taken, between the two 
types of nets at 0.05 level for degrees 
