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Your Wild Ohio - Angler
5/13/2015 Division of Wildlife
Odds are, if you've fished in Ohio long enough, you've probably had an encounter with a creel clerk. These
seasonal employees are hired annually by the ODNR Division of Wildlife and sent out into the field during peak
fishing times of the year to interview anglers. Equipped with a survey and a clipboard, creel clerks record anglers’
answers to a series of pre-determined questions relating to their fishing experience and results for the day. While
this may take about five minutes of your time, the information shared plays a vital role in helping biologists
improve fishing.
Creel surveys have been a fisheries management tool for a long time and get their name from the wicker “creel”
baskets that were once commonly used by anglers to store their catch for the day. Even though most anglers
ditched their creel baskets for coolers and live wells years ago, creel surveys have proven over time to be
essential in determining the effects anglers have on fisheries. Recording what species and sizes of fish are
harvested is still one of the most important pieces of information a creel clerk will gather. However, other important
questions, such as how long you’ve been fishing, what you’re targeting, and what you've caught and released
provide further insights into the health and success of a fishery.
In Ohio, creel surveys are performed annually on Lake Erie and inland reservoirs and less often on the Ohio River
and inland streams. No matter where they are stationed, creel clerks are given two primary duties to get the
information biologists desire. Their first task is to count the number of people fishing. It is important for biologists
to have angler count information because, when combined with the average length of a fishing trip (learned during
the interviews), it provides an estimate of total angler effort. Effort is typically recorded as the total number of hours
anglers spend fishing on a body of water, per day, week or year. Effort can also be divided by the acreage of a
reservoir or mileage of a stream to provide an estimate of fishing pressure. For instance, some of our smaller Ohio
reservoirs might not receive the same amount of total angling effort as larger reservoirs, but when examining the
effort per acre it becomes evident that some are actually much more heavily fished. Understanding the amount of
fishing pressure a reservoir or stream receives is important when considering where regulations may be needed,
as well as where they may be most effective.
The creel clerk’s second task is interviewing all of the anglers just counted to learn some of the finer details of a
their fishing trip. If you've never been interviewed by a creel clerk before, the first thing you can expect is a short
introduction followed by an inquiry of when you began fishing and how many people are in your party. These
details help fine tune the angling effort information derived from the counts mentioned earlier. Next, you’ll likely be
asked what you were fishing for on that particular day, followed by if you've caught anything and if it was released
or kept. This information is the real meat of the survey and provides biologists with estimates of angler catch rates
and harvest rates for specific species of fish. The length of time it takes an angler to catch a targeted species of
fish can be a good indicator of the health of that fishery, and whether or not management strategies need to be
altered to try and improve catch rates. Biologists also use this information to rank fisheries and direct the public to
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the best fishing spots in their area. If you have harvested fish, the creel clerk will ask you if it’s okay to measure
them. These lengths provide information about which species are being harvested, what sizes are most
susceptible to harvest, and times of the year most harvest takes place.
Lastly, most creel surveys contain several supplemental questions that vary from year to year and are aimed at
collecting anglers’ input on a wide variety of topics. Fisheries managers often use this opportunity to gauge interest
in potential regulations or to rate the satisfaction of established regulations. So the next time you are approached
on the water by a friendly face in a green shirt with a clipboard and measuring board, please take the time to
answer a few questions, share your catch, and provide your honest opinions. Afterwards, you can take pride in
knowing that you've made a small, but invaluable contribution to the sport fish management at your local body of
water.
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Page 2 of 2Creel Surveys: A Window into Angler Catch and Harvest - Your Wild Ohio Angler
10/5/2015http://wildlife.ohiodnr.gov/stay-informed/online-articles-amp-features/your-wild-ohio-angl...