Results of Angling under Special and Normal Trout Fishing Regulations in a Michigan Trout Stream

Abstract

Abstract The objective of this experiment was to compare angling quality for various sizes of trout in stream sections having two different sets of fishing regulations. Four anglers fished artificial flies and worm-baited hooks equal amounts of time in two stream sections, utilizing stratified random sampling procedures. Catch data were treated by analysis of variance, after transforming individual catch-per-hour data to: log[(catch/hour X 100) plus 1]. Total catch was 579 trout, 3.0 to 13.0 inches total length, in 192 hours; flies took 249 trout, worms caught 330 trout. Pertinent length categories into which the catch was separated were tested statistically. Statistically significant differences in catch data, at or above the 95 per cent confidence level, led to these conclusions: A. Comparing catch by both lures in both waters: 1. More trout over 7 inches long were caught with worms than with flies. No significant difference was found for all trout. 2. The second quarter of the trout season was signific...