Angler perceptions of fishing success and the effect of on‐site catch rate information

Abstract

Anglers fishing in put‐and‐take rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) fisheries in urban lakes rated their fishing success on average less than “fair”; (rating scale “poor,”; “fair,”; “good,”; or “excellent") even though average catch rates exceeded the 0.5 fish/hour catch rate fisheries managers often use as a target catch rate. Catching at least one trout/trip was important to 81% of the anglers, and catching a daily limit was important to 50% of the anglers. We found that informing anglers about the actual catch rate of rainbow trout in these lakes in the previous year significantly improved anglers’ fishing‐success ratings. We suggest that angler fishing‐success rating is an important element of fishery evaluation, and providing catch rate standards is necessary for realistic evaluation by anglers.