Put-and-take fisheries: Investigating catch and retention assumptions
Citations
Altmetric:
Abstract
Several studies have shown that anglers fishing in put-and-take trout fisheries requiring payment of daily fishing fees or purchase of special seasonal permits consider catch/harvest elements of the angling experience to be very important. Less is known about motives and attitudes of anglers who participate in statewide put-and-take trout fisheries that do not require special permits. Our study used a mail questionnaire to compare motives and attitudes of Massachusetts freshwater anglers who: (1) fish most often for trout to those who fish most often for largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) and/or smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieui); and (2) fish most often in a put-and-take trout fishery to those who fish most often for wild trout. Motives and attitudes of angling subgroups differed little. Although participating in a fishery offering the opportunity for high rates of catch and harvest, put-and-take anglers did not indicate that catch/harvest-related factors were more important to the quality of an angling experience than did other angling subgroups. Generally, responses did not clearly separate trout anglers from bass anglers, nor put-and-take trout anglers from those who fish for wild trout.
Type
article
Date
2001-01