all species of food or game fishes known to occur in St. 

 Andrew Bay were caught by the interviewed anglers. The 

 red snapper, Lutjanus campechanus, and tarpon, Mega- 

 lops atlantica, are examples. The results from our catch 

 and catch rate survey are presented below. 



METHODS 



Anglers on four fixed platforms in the St. Andrew Bay 

 system and charter boat captains or mates who fished in 

 the bay, inlet, and adjacent coastal waters (Fig. 1) were 

 interviewed for catch rate data. The fixed platforms 

 were: 1) Deer Point Dam, 2) Bailey Bridge, 3) Hathaway 

 Bridge, and 4) West Jetty. Only charter boatmen that 

 trolled for nearshore pelagic fishes, chiefly Spanish and 

 king mackerels, were interviewed, since charter boats in 

 the demersal fishery generally fish beyond 25 km offshore. 

 More importantly, charter boatmen are exceedingly re- 

 luctant to reveal the location of their demersal fishing 

 grounds. Most of the interviewed charter boatmen fished 

 within 25 km of West Pass. 



The creel census was conducted twice weekly by 

 rotating the visits among the fixed platforms and char- 

 ter boats. On occasions when anglers did not use the 

 scheduled fixed platforms, additional visits were made to 

 the marinas to obtain catch rates from charter boats. 

 None of the fixed platforms were used by anglers on sur- 

 vey days in January or the charter boats in January, Feb- 

 ruary, and December. In the period February through 

 December, catch rates were obtained on 23 visits to Deer 

 Point Dam, Bailey Bridge, and Hathaway Bridge, and on 

 24 visits to West Jetty and charter boats. 



The catch rates obtained in this survey were from day- 

 time angling only. Of the anglers interviewed on fixed 

 platforms few had started fishing prior to 0600 h. Peak 

 fishing hours were from 0900 to 1100. Similarly, relatively 

 few of the surveyed charter boats fished prior to 0600; 



most fished during the hours 0600 to 1000. All fishing 

 times were recorded to the nearest one-quarter hour. The 

 survey ended at 1600 each day. 



The fixed platforms were surveyed continuously 

 throughout the day. The beginning time, catch, and kind 

 of bait were recorded for each angler. Elapsed fishing 

 time, additional catch, and bait changes were noted in 

 repeated interviews of individual anglers. Fishes that 

 were reportedly caught and returned to the water were 

 classed as throwbacks; the number reported was ac- 

 cepted as accurate. Observed fishes were usually iden- 

 tified to species, but in some cases were identified only to 

 family. 



Charter boat captains attempted to schedule their first 

 pelagic fishing trip each day to begin at 0600. Since most 

 charters were for 4 h, peak fishing hours were from 0600 

 to 1000, although previously scheduled and nonscheduled 

 trips departed and returned to the marinas throughout 

 the day. Catch and effort data were obtained from as 

 many of the returning charter boats as time and circum- 

 stance permitted. 



FISHES CAUGHT 



Anglers caught at least 55 species of fishes in 31 

 families (Table 1): 31 species at West Jetty, 21 at 

 Hathaway Bridge, 20 at Deer Point Dam, 13 at Bailey 

 Bridge, and 23 on charter boats. Sciaenidae contributed 

 the greatest number of species (seven) followed by 

 Carangidae (six); other families were represented by 

 three or four species. Eight species of fishes constituted 

 72.9% of the total catch on fixed platforms: finfish 

 (18.2%), sea catfish (12.8%), spotted seatrout (10.0%), 

 blue runner (8.8%), crevalle jack (8.8%), sand seatrout 

 (5.9%), Atlantic croaker (4.8%), and lefteye flounder 

 (3.6%). King mackerel constituted 73.9% of the total 

 catch bv charter boats. 



Table 1. — Common and scientific names of fishes caught by anglers at four locations in St. Andrew Bay system, Fla., and in adjacent coastal 



waters, 1973 



Com 



mon name 



Scientific name 











Bay and 



Deer Pt. 



Bailey 



Hathaway 



West 



coastal 



Dam 



Bridge 



Bridge 



Jetty 



waters 



Requiem sharks 

 Hammerhead sharks 

 Stingrays 

 Morays 



Lizardfishes 



Inshore lizardfish 

 Sea catfishes 



Sea catfish 



Gafftopsail catfish 

 Toadfishes 



Gulf toadfish 

 Needlefishes 

 Sea basses 



Sea bass 



Sand perch 



Gag 



CARCHARHINIDAE 



Carcharhinus sp. 

 SPHYRNIDAE 



Sphyrna sp. 

 DASYATTDAE 



Dasyatis sp. 

 MURAENIDAE 



Gymnothoraz sp. 

 SYNODONTIDAE 



Synodus foetens 

 ARIIDAE 



Arius felis 



Bagre tnarinus 

 BATRACHOIDIDAE 



Opsanus beta 

 BELONDJAE 

 SERRANIDAE 



Centropristis sp. 



Diplectrum formosum 



Mycteroperca microlepis 



