Seasonal, spatial, and water level predictors of angler catch and effort within Texas black bass reservoir fisheries

Abstract We applied generalized additive models to analyze creel data collected at 53 reservoirs between 2003 and 2021 to evaluate seasonal, spatial, and environmental predictors of angler catch rate and effort density (i.e., angler hrs/ha) within Texas black bass fisheries. Season significantly affected models with strong positive effects on catch rates during the spring and fall and strong positive effects on effort densities during the spring. Quarterly (i.e., three months) fluctuations in water level were identified as environmental drivers of catch rates and effort density during the springtime. Percent full (i.e., relative surface area to full pool) was also identified as a significant predictor with increasing effort densities and catch rates at higher levels of percent full. Our study provides a comparative baseline for future evaluations of black bass fisheries in Texas and a depiction of key factors influencing black bass angler catch rates and effort densities using a modeling approach that may be applied within a variety of fisheries research applications.