Research-angler diary (RAD) and fishery-independent survey (FIS) methods were trialled to sample recreational fish populations of black bream (Acanthopagrus butcheri) in Gippsland’s Lake Tyers. Catch rates and catch length-frequency distributions were compared between these methods. The FIS method consistently caught significantly more species of fish and much higher numbers of fish than did the RAD method. The higher catch rates for the FIS method than for the RAD method for fish of length ≥LML are explained by higher ‘encounterability’, whereas the much higher catch rates for fish of length <LML are explained by the combination of higher ‘encounterability’ and much higher ‘selectivity’ of the fishing gear. The FIS (beach seine) catch rate and catch length-frequency composition provided reasonably unbiased indices of relative abundance and length-frequency distribution. Conversely, apart from the smallest fish in the population (too small to catch during the trials), the RAD method could not be applied as an indicator of the relative strength of length classes or cohorts in the population without adjustment for the effects of species-specific length-selectivity.