A method of sampling fish populations in the littoral area of reservoirs was developed to estimate the number and standing stock of young-of-the-year (YOY) and adult fishes in West Point Reservoir, Alabama-Georgia. A surface area of 0.0 I ha was surrounded with a net (30.5 m x 2.7 m) and the fish were poisoned with rotenone. The sample sites were chosen randomly by using a grid system. The average monthly standing stock (kg/ hal from April to September 1977 ranged from 74.2 in September to 126.1 in June. The weekly samples yielded data that enabled us to estimate the reproductive success and time of spawning for many species. We determined a weekly mortality rate of YOY largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) and could assess the availability of prey species. By using this method we sampled a wider variety of habitats and collected more species (34) than were taken in large rotenone samples from coves (29) or by electrofishing (28), and provided a reasonable estimate of standing stock in shallow littoral areas. The technique required only 2 people and little specialized equipment.
