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declined from a high of 800,657 fish in 1965 to 107,164 fish during 1980. Total <br />harvest increased to 171,370 fish in 1981 and dropped to 161,526 in 1982. <br />METHODS <br />The 1978 and 1982 creel surveys included two independent surveys - one to <br />estimate fishing pressure (aerial census) and one to estimate creel rate, spe- <br />cies composition, party size and length of fishing trip (angler interviews). <br />Fishing pressure estimates were calculated directly from counts of shore and <br />ice fishermen and fishing boats made from a low-flying aircraft. Counts were <br />stratified by zone of the reservoir (Figure 1), weekday or weekend-holiday and <br />type of fishing (boat, shore or ice). Flights were equally divided between <br />weekday and weekend-holiday strata within each month. Eight flight days were <br />scheduled per month. During the months of May through August, two flights were <br />scheduled per count day, for a total of 16 counts per month. The survey was <br />conducted from March 1978 through February 1979. Dates and times of each <br />flight were randomly selected. The 1982 aerial survey was the same as the 1978 <br />survey, except the number of flights (fishermen count sample days) was reduced <br />in 1982 to lower the cost of the survey. Analysis of variance of fishing <br />pressure estimates from the 1978 survey indicated a reasonable level of preci- <br />sion from the reduced sample schedule. Therefore, only four count days were <br />scheduled per month. During the months of May through August, two flights were <br />scheduled per count day for a total of eight counts per month. The holiday <br />weekends of Memorial Day, Fourth of July, and Labor Day were scheduled as <br />separate strata and two count days were scheduled in each of the holiday <br />periods. Two counts were made each day for a total of four counts for each <br />holiday period. <br /># Stratified random angler interviews were conducted according to the schedule <br />developed in 1971 and 1972. Creel survey effort was randomly allocated among <br />all reservoir access points each month and stratified according to weekday or <br />weekend-holiday. There were 18 survey days per month (9 weekday and 9 weekend- <br />holiday days) during the months of January through April and September through <br />December. In the heavy use months of May through August a survey day was broken <br />down into a.m. and p.m. shifts for a total of 36 survey days per month (Table <br />11). Roving patrols were done either from a boat or by truck depending on the <br />zone and weather conditions. This schedule was followed during the intensive <br />creel surveys of 1978 and 1982. Data collected from each party contacted inclu- <br />ded party size, hours fished, catch by species (including the number of fin- <br />clipped or dye-marked fish in the catch), whether they had finished fishing and <br />in 1979, which species the party was pursuing. Biological data taken from fish <br />in randomly selected creels included length, weight, scales, and/or fin samples <br />as needed. Pectoral fins and scale samples were taken from lake trout in 1979 <br />and 1980. Smallmouth bass stomachs were collected and preserved in formalin in <br />1982 for analysis of food habits. <br />Analysis of the returns of marked fish, checked during creel surveys, pro- <br />vided data on a host of statistics: movement, survival, longevity, growth and <br />return to the creel. Returns of stocked rainbow trout were calculated from har- <br />vest figures based upon the 4 year mean, while brown trout returns were based <br />upon a 6 year mean. <br />-23-