Fishes of the Big Blue River Basin, Kansas

In the late 1950s the Big Blue River of northeastern Kansas faced a dramatic change: the Army Corps of Engineers was about to fill the new Tuttle Creek Dam, submerging farmland and historic sites. Worried that the floodwaters might alter a river famed for its prolific catfish fishery, a biologist set out to record every fish species and gauge their numbers before the water rose. Over fourteen months of fieldwork, he and a team of local volunteers sampled streams, measured water chemistry, and documented the anglers’ catches, creating a baseline for future comparison.

The report weaves together geology, climate and land‑use notes with meticulous sampling methods, then presents an annotated checklist of more than thirty fish species, including rare hybrids. Tables and figures illustrate relative abundance across tributaries, while a creel census offers a glimpse into the river’s recreational value before the dam’s waters took over. Closing sections propose management suggestions, making the work a valuable snapshot of mid‑century river ecology and a reference point for anyone curious about how human projects intersect with aquatic life.