Quote Originally Posted by Hank,J View Post
What is amazing about this conversation is that everybody seems to think that anybody that fishes catches a limit every time out. The real truth is that on any given day 1% of the anglers will catch their limits, but 99% won't. In actual fact, (if it were studied) it would show that 90% of the people that have fished any particular lake have NEVER caught a limit.
When we do creel surveys, one of the things we are looking to get is exactly this information. The "stringer tables" show us what the typical angler harvests per trip. The stringer tables tell us how many anglers limit out and also how high a length limit or how low a daily limit would have to be to reduce harvest. Many times the stringer tables will show that we don't have a problem of overharvest. The old adage that 20% of the anglers catch 80% of the fish is actually pretty accurate.