The ten baits most commonly used, in order of frequency, were worms, doughballs, minnows, liver, beef-spleen, chicken-entrails, coagulated blood, crayfish, shrimp, and corn. For purposes of later comparison the data on angler success (Table 4) have been divided according to areas: Area I, below Tuttle Creek Dam; Area II, in the Tuttle Creek Reservoir area; and Area III, above the reservoir. Areas I and III received the most fishing pressure, especially Station 4-S (in Area I), and Station 56-S (in Area III). In Area I, the success ranged from 0.91 fish per fisherman-day in 1957 to 0.26 fish per fisherman-day in 1958. The 1957 census was made in April and May, when fishing in warm-water streams is considered better than in July (Harrison, 1956:203). The 1958 census was from late June through July, and stream-flow in this period was continuously above normal. Therefore, fewer people fished the river, and catches were irregular. Catches in 1958 ranged from 0.26 fish per fisherman-day in Area I to 0.44 fish per fisherman-day in Area III. In 1951, in the Republican River of Kansas and Nebraska, the average fisherman-day yielded 0.36 fish, 0.09 fish per man-hour, and 0.06 fish per pole-hour (U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1952:13-14). The average fisherman-day in the Republican River study was 3.0 hours, whereas the average on the Big Blue River was 2.2 hours for all areas in 1958 (Table 4). TABLE 4. ANGLING SUCCESS IN THE BIG BLUE RIVER, KANSAS, 1957 AND 1958. ================================================================= AREA, YEAR, |Average |Number |Number |Number AND NUMBER |length of |fish per |fish per|fish per OF FISHERMEN |fisherman-day|fisherman-day|man-hour|pole-hour[A] ---------------+-------------+-------------+--------+------------ Area I, 1957 | 2.7 hours | 0.91 | 0.33 | 0.23 53 fishermen | | | | Area I, 1958 | 2.5 hours | 0.26 | 0.10 | 0.07 84 fishermen | | | | Area II, 1958 | 1.7 hours | 0.37 | 0.22 | 0.14 27 fishermen | | | | Area III, 1958 | 2.4 hours | 0.44 | 0.16 | 0.11 41 fishermen | | | | All areas, 1958| 2.2 hours | 0.33 | 0.14 | 0.09 152 fishermen| | | | [A] Fishermen used an average of 1.44 poles.