Tournament Catch of Largemouth Bass from St. Johns River, Florida

A three-day fishing tournament on the 51. Johns River, Florida, in which 200 fishermen competed. yielded 1165 largemouth bass over 12 inches, and 1254 bass smaller than 12 inches. The over-aU catch rate was 0.50 bass per hour. The catch per acre of water fished was 0.03 bass. Over-all mortality estimates ranged from 22.3 to 43.8 percent; they were due primarily to epidermal bacterial and fungal infections, contracted by handling. The 3 I-day tag retention rate for largemouth bass tagged with the Floy FD-68-B anchor tag was found to be S1.1 percent for fish held in a hatchery pond.