Hook-and-Line Vulnerability and Multiple Recapture of Largemouth Bass under a Minimum Total-Length Limit of 457 mm

Abstract

Data from a catch‐and‐release largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) fishery at Ridge Lake, Illinois, in which the minimum size limit was 457 mm total length, were used to test the null hypothesis that the recapture of largemouth bass is a normally distributed random event. Comparison of recapture data with a Poisson distribution for randomly selected fish from the 1976 year class demonstrated that recapture was not a random phenomenon and implied that individual fish varied in their vulnerabilities. Low and high vulnerabilities to capture existed among individuals in the largemouth bass population in Ridge Lake. Hook‐and‐line vulnerability of individuals varied among fishing seasons. Approximately 15% of the largemouth bass longer than 200 mm that were recovered when the lake was drained had never been caught during the four seasons of catch‐and‐release fishing. However, tagged largemouth bass were caught, on the average, approximately twice in any catch‐and‐release season.

Revised Master Plan for the Hood River Production Program, Technical Report 2008.

“…About 37% of the fish were caught more than once, and 21% were never captured. This and other studies on largemouth bass (Burkett et al 1986;Hackney and Linkous 1978) indicate that some individual fish may be more likely than others to be caught by hook-and-line methods. Other studies of rainbow trout (Dwyer and Piper 1984;Brauhn and Kincaid 1982;Moring 1982;Hudy and Berry 1983) indicate that vulnerability to angling may be heritable.…”

Sociological, Economic, and Biological Aspects of Competitive Fishing

“…Burkett et al (1986) demonstrated variation in vulnerability to hook-and-line capture in a largemouth bass population and suggested that differences in vulnerability were heritable. One possible effect is a general loss of genetic diversity.…”

Hooking mortality: A review for recreational fisheries

“…Based on recapture rates, Burkett et al (1986) concluded that largemouth bass populations contained stocks of high and low vulnerabilities. They estimated that only 15% of the population was vulnerable to capture, and those fish were caught on average about two times every season.…”