The Sport Fishery of the Unchannelized and Channelized Middle Missouri River

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Abstract
A catch survey of 502 km of the Missouri River was conducted from July 1, 1972 to June 30, 1973. The study area encompassed the Gavins Point Dam tailwaters (6.4 km), 84 km of unchannelized river and 412 km of channelized river. The fishery supported 412,660 angler hours (98,252 angling days) valued at $720,047. Anglers averaged 0.47 and 0.33 fish/h for annual catch and harvest rates, respectively. Catch rate includes fish not kept. The greatest angling effort and harvest occurred in the tailwaters, but the unchannelized river supported the highest annual catch and harvest rates. 0.72 and 0.50 fish/h. The unchannelized river also exceeded the channelized river in angler‐hours/km, number of fish caught/km, weight harvested (kg/km), and average size of creeled fish. Sauger, channel catfish, and white bass were the most abundant species creeled in the unchannelized river compared to carp, channel catfish, and freshwater drum in the channelized section. The harvest rates indicated that the standing crop of sport fish was considerably greater in the unchannelized than the channelized river. More backwater aquatic habitat and greater habitat diversity in the unchannelized river probably accounted for population abundance differences.

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