Ecology of the Missouri River: Missouri River Creel Survey, Bellevue Bridge to Camp Creek, 30 March through 11 October 2002. Supplement I

This report describes Missouri River activities and results related to a channelized Missouri River creel survey conducted from 30 March through 11 October 2002. This is the third of a planned annual creel survey to be conducted on alternating sections of the channelized Missouri River to measure changes in recreational fishing activity, especially those changes due to large scale habitat restoration efforts. Future reports will contain additional analyses of these data. Anglers spent over 42,000 hours fishing the Missouri River from Bellevue (rkm 967.7) to Camp Creek (rkm 883.5) during the survey period. Effort was steady from late spring (4/27 - 5/24) through late summer (7/20 - 8/16) and was lower in early spring and during the fall. Plattsmouth and Nebraska City accounted for over 73% of the effort. Anglers targeted catfish (blue, channel and flatheads) over 45% of the time that they were fishing. Inside bends were the most commonly fished macro habitat, accounting for over 65% of the total angling effort. Anglers caught over 18,000 and harvested over 7,800 fish from 30 March through 11 October 2002 while fishing the Missouri River. Catch was spread out through the year but anglers fishing the Plattsmouth and Nebraska City reaches caught over 71% of the fish. Total catch rates ranged from 0.21 fish per hour during the last (9/14 - 10/11) creel period to 0.81 fish per hour during the first creel period (3/30 - 4/26). Channel catfish were the most abundant species in the creel followed by common carp, shovel nose sturgeon and freshwater drum