(see Lerczak et al. 1994:17-24, Lerczak et al. 1995:7, and Lerczak et al. 1996:2) All 

 sites were sampled with water temperatures and river levels (Table 1 ) within our 

 established criteria (see Lerczak et al. 1994:10-13). 



B. ELECTROFISHING RESULTS 



The following data summaries proceed through several levels of detail First, 

 data on the numbers of individual fish (by species) collected at each of the 27 sites 

 are presented. Then, catch rates of the number of individuals collected per hour of 

 electrofishing are calculated for each of the seven navigation reaches. Similar 

 summaries are presented for fish weights. Results conclude with fish health as 

 determined by external visual inspection. Common names used throughout this 

 report follow Robins et al. (1991). Common and scientific names are listed in 

 APPENDIX A 



Numbers of Fish Collected 



In 1996 we collected a total of 5,062 fish representing 41 species (plus tv/o 

 hybrids) from 1 1 families during 24.75 h of sampling at 26 sites on the Illinois 

 Waterway and a single site on the Mississippi River. Gizzard shad was the most 

 abundantly collected species, representing 48.4% of the total catch, followed by 

 white bass (8.9%), bluegill (8.1%), freshwater drum (6.4%), common carp (6.4%), 

 and emerald shiner (3.3%). Gizzard shad v;ere collected at all 27 sites, and bluegill 

 were taken at 25 sites The sample from Pekin (RM 154.9, La Grange Reach) 

 yielded the most fish (524, 1 0.4% of the total collected from all 27 sites). The most 



