Gear- And Season-Specific Catch Rates Of Age-0 Walleyes And White Bass: Standard Sampling Recommendations For Great Plains Reservoirs

Walleye Sander vitreus and White Bass Morone chrysops are two of the most popular sport fish species sought by anglers in the Great Plains. However, not all sampling approaches effectively capture age-0 Walleyes and White Bass, and therefore it may be difficult for fisheries managers to index age-0 year-class strength. We evaluated the differences among three gears for sampling age-0 Walleyes and White Bass: bag seining, boat electrofishing, and small-mesh gill netting. Boat electrofishing had the highest average catch, lowest minimum sample size needed to obtain a relative standard error of 25%, low operational effort, and the lowest mortality. The average catches of age-0 Walleyes and White Bass were positively correlated, suggesting that the two species can be sampled simultaneously. Considering all of the metrics evaluated, we recommend boat electrofishing in September as the most appropriate way to sample age-0 Walleyes and White Bass in reservoirs.