STEVE SAMMONS AND PHILLIP W. BETTOLI, Tennessee Cooperative Fishery Research Unit, Box 5114 Tennessee Technological University, Cookeville, Tennessee 38505, USA

Largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides and spotted bass M. punctulatus were sampled in the spring and fall over five years from Normandy Reservoir, Tennessee, to assess spatial and temporal differences in abundance. Bass were collected each season from 40 transects using a DC electrofishing boat equipped with boom-mounted electrodes. Sampling was stratified among the following habitats: riprap, rubble, gravel, mixed substrate, and coves. A randomized block design ANOVA was used to partition variation by habitat and year. Catch rates of largemouth bass were highest in riprap habitats and lowest in gravel habitats in both seasons (P=0.0001). Gravel habitats yielded more small largemouth bass in both seasons (P =0.0001). In contrast, spring catch rates of spotted bass varied unpredictably among years and habitats. Fall catch rates of spotted bass were highest in rubble habitats and lowest in cove and mixed habitats (P=0.0001). Cove and gravel habitats consistently contained smaller spotted bass in both seasons. Managers designing electrofishing surveys to obtain a random sample of black bass should be aware that catch rates from electrofishing surveys vary according to specific habitat preferences of both sizes and species of black bass.