anglers (channel catfish, bluegill, and white bass) The catch of channel catfish was 

 the highest observed since 1989. Although not as popular with anglers, the 

 bigmouth buffalo is an important species in terms of CPUEw in the lower and middle 

 waterway; smallmouth buffalo is important in terms of CPUE^ and CPUEn in the 

 upper watePvvay. Common carp CPUEf^ was highest in La Grange Reach of the 

 middle waterway, but continued to be low in the upper waterway; common carp 

 CPUEyv was high in all reaches. 



We noticed a drastic decline in abundances of small cyprinid species such as 

 emerald shiner, bullhead minnow, and bluntnose minnow in the upper waten<vay. 

 Populations of these species in terms of abundance are known to vary each year. 

 Only by continued monitoring will we be able to determine if our samples have 

 represented a true decline in cyprinid abundance at the upper waterway sites. It is 

 unlikely that piscivore abundance in the upper waterway is high enough to limit these 

 cyprinid populations, especially with the co-occurring gizzard shad abundance. 

 Most likely, the environmental conditions were not favorable during spawning or for 

 overwintering of these species in 1 996 which reduced their overall abundance. 



28 



