Effect of Fishing Success on Angler Satisfaction on a Central Oregon Rainbow Trout Fishery: Implications for Establishing Management Objectives

Abstract

Understanding the relationship between fish populations, fishing success, and angler satisfaction is critical for effective fisheries management. Our objectives were to quantify angler satisfaction in a fishery for Rainbow Trout Oncorhynchus mykiss in central Oregon and examine the factors influencing angler satisfaction. Multinomial logistic regression models were used to determine the effect of several variables, including fishing success, on angler satisfaction. Measures of fishing success were present in all of the top candidate models. The probability of an increase in angler satisfaction rating was positively related to mean length and number of fish caught per hour. However, younger anglers tended to have higher satisfaction ratings at lower mean length and catch rates of fish than did older anglers. These models provided information on the expected percentage of anglers that will be satisfied given the average length of fish caught and the number of fish caught per hour. These results can be used to establish quantitative, measurable, management objectives that will satisfy desired percentages of anglers and lead to more effective fisheries management.

Received February 9, 2014; accepted May 27, 2014

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Funding for this project was provided by a grant from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Restoration and Enhancement Board. We thank Jill Lukacs for conducting the creel survey. We thank Michael Gauvin, Michael C. Quist, Richard Eades, and three anonymous reviewers for providing comments on earlier versions of this manuscript.