Sampling techniques for larval fish were evaluated in the littoral zone (1- to 6-m deep) of western Lake Erie in 1975 and 1976. Catch rates were compared using slow-speed, 1-m-diameter plankton nets in daytime and nighttime oblique and stratified tows above bottom and in daytime epibenthic tows with an aluminum sled. Sampling efficiency also was compared using nets of 363-, 571-, 760-, and 1,000- micrometers mesh towed from 1 to 5 min. The most abundant larvae captured were clupeids (Alosa pseudoharengus and Dorosoma cepedianum), yellow perch (Perca flavescens), rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax), and white bass (Morone chrysops). Larvae did not consistently occur in one stratum over another in water above bottom, but concentrated near bottom during the day. Oblique, nighttime tows above bottom caught at least 20 times the larvae caught in daylight tows above bottom. Post-yolk-sac larvae were most efficiently captured in nighttime oblique or stratified tows, while yolk-sac larvae were more efficiently captured by epibenthic, daytime tows. (Copyright (c) Internat. Assoc. Great Lakes Res., 1984.)