Do Anglers Know What They Catch? Identification Accuracy and Its Effect on Angler Survey‐Derived Catch Estimates

Abstract Angler surveys are reliant on the ability of anglers to accurately report various aspects of their fishing trips. Misidentification of sport fishes has been postulated as a source of error among angler surveys but has received little attention. We evaluated the overall ability of anglers to identify sport fishes common to Ohio and the potential impacts on catch estimates derived from angler surveys. During angler surveys conducted on lakes and reservoirs (2007, n = 34) and Ohio River tailwaters (2010, n = 3), anglers were presented with artist-rendered images of 18 different sport fishes common to these waters. Anglers (lake and reservoir, n = 2,442; Ohio River, n = 458) were asked to identify sport fish by their common name. On average, anglers correctly identified sport fishes 42% of the time, but accuracy varied widely among species (lake and reservoir, range = 4.4–85.1%; Ohio River, range = 9.4–71.8%), with greater accuracy exhibited for the most common species (e.g., largemouth bass Micropte...