this lake is one of the more popular fishing areas, seven other lakes are known to be more in- 
tensively used and are reputedly better fishing lakes, Angling data from Lake Chautauqua may, 
therefore, be regarded as representative of those in the Illinois River valley, Because catches 
Table 3,--Number of pounds of fish taken by anglers, pounds of fish caught per acre, 
and recreational value of the catch from 3,200 acres of water in Chautauqua National Wildlife 
Refuge, 1941-1943 and 1945-1947,* 
6 ly Aver- Recreational Values 
Pounds Per Acre see Sees < a 
Per A 
1941 1945 | 1946] 1947 Saas Pen Mene 
eNoerae 0.69 | 0.48] 0.17 0.34 $2.50 
ae 2.61 0.75 
*The tl do not represent the full extent of the anglers’ catch, as the fish caught 
from private boats are unrecorded; only the fish caught by anglers renting equipment from boat 
liveries are recorded, 
Kind of 
Fish 
eevesee 
are recorded only by boat livery operators, those made from private boats are unrecorded; 
thus, the figures in table 3 do not represent the full extent of the anglers’ catch, 
The public recreational value assigned per pound of largemouth bass was $2.50 and 
for other fish, most of them pan varieties, $0.75 per pound, These figures are based upon the 
Table 4,--Number of man-days of fishing, pounds of fish caught per acre, and recrea- 
tional value of the catch at 3,500-acre Spring Lake, near Savanna, 1946-1947, 
: Recreational Value 
Number pune 
of poet 
Man-Days Ce ne Per Acre 
amount of money fishermen spent per day in making their catch, and were derived in a manner 
similar to the method used in determining the value of waterfowl, Although the fish-value fig- 
ures were established by Dr, George W, Bennett and other aquatic biologists of the Illinois 
Natural History Survey several years before the Manual of Instructions, River Basin Studies, 
was issued by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, it is interesting to note the close 
approach to the designated values of $2.00 per pound for bass and $0.75 per pound for pan fish 
now being used by the federal agency in river basin analyses, 
12 
