Five types of fish population sampling gear were intensively fished in a 263 acre Oklahoma reservoir. The relative species compositions are compared, both between and within sampling methods and with bag seine samples taken at draining. A method using accumulative percentages for determining the length of time necessary to sample a population with specific gear to estimate species composition is described. Bated and unbaited nets had similar catch rates and species composition. Bluegill were more vulnerable to seine hauling during daylight hours than seine hauling at night. Gill nets failed to produce sufficient numbers of fish for statistical analysis, but larger mesh sizes captured flathead catfish and freshwater drum missed by most of the other types of gear. Small mesh gill nets revealed essentially the same species composition as rotenone and shocker samples. Trap nets caught white crappie in greater proportion than their numbers in the population. Shocker collections exhibited nocturnal increases in catch rates of redear sunfish, but not of bluegill, warmouth, or largemouth bass.
