Largemouth Bass and Striped Bass Tops Among Tar River Anglers

Popularity Contest Winners Announced: Largemouth Bass and Striped Bass Tops Among Tar River Anglers

A recent creel survey conducted by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission found that anglers on the Tar River spent most of their time in pursuit of largemouth bass and striped bass, while sunfish and crappie were the gamefish most frequently caught and harvested. The 12-month creel survey, conducted from July 1, 2004 through June 30, 2005, also revealed that Tar River anglers fished a total of 31,082 hours for largemouth bass, caught 60,987 sunfish, and harvested 21,471 crappie. Primary goals of the survey were to estimate fishing effort, the number and types of fish caught, and the number of fish that were kept for consumption.

A total of 769 anglers were interviewed that fished for an estimated 104,140 hours during the study period. Anglers targeted largemouth bass 30% of the time, followed by striped bass (14%), sunfish (bluegill, redear, pumpkinseed, and redbreast; 13%), crappie (9%), and anadromous shad (4%). Twenty-seven percent of the hours were logged by generalist anglers who told us they were fishing for either a combination of species or “anything that bites”.

We estimated that 164,250 fish were caught during the survey, of which 46,000 were harvested. Sunfish accounted for 37% of the catch and 36% of the total harvest. Crappie accounted for 24% of the catch and 47% of the harvest. Catch and harvest estimates of crappie and sunfish from the Tar River ranked among the highest reported from NC coastal rivers. While largemouth bass and striped bass combined for 58% of the total catch, only about 1% of those fish were kept by anglers.

Of the 769 Tar River anglers interviewed, 83% were local anglers that resided in Beaufort, Pitt, Edgecombe, and Nash counties. Seventeen percent of the anglers lived in other counties of North Carolina. Only 1% of the anglers were from out-of-state locales, including anglers from Colorado, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia.

To estimate the economic value of the Tar River fishery, anglers were asked how much money they spent per trip on bait, food, gas, and lodging. Anglers reportedly spent an average of $4.12 per trip totaling $429,000 to fish the Tar River each year. This estimate does not include the cost of items such as boats, motors, fishing rods and tackle. Anglers also told us that they would be willing to spend almost twice the average cost per trip to come back and spend a similar day fishing on the Tar River. When angler “willingness to pay” was added to the estimated expenditures, the total economic value associated with angling on the Tar River during the survey was nearly 1 million dollars.
Total effort and catch of largemouth bass and striped bass during the survey was similar to what has been reported for the Cape Fear, Neuse, and Chowan rivers. However, the numbers of fish kept were lower than reported in other coastal rivers. Largemouth bass anglers on the Tar practiced primarily catch-and-release fishing as only 1% of the largemouth bass caught were harvested. Striped bass anglers reported catching mostly sub-legal fish during the creel survey (the minimum size limit is 18 inches). Our electrofishing surveys on the Tar River confirmed the presence of small striped bass in the system. Of the 1,423 stripers that were collected during our spring electrofishing survey in 2005, 86% were less than 18 inches.

We plan to repeat this survey within 10 years to monitor changes in angling trends. In the meantime, results from this survey will allow us to refine our management strategies to ensure that quality angling opportunities remain available on the Tar River.