The aim of this study was to evaluate artificial fish shelter, which was known to increase prey survival and expand habitat space to improve species diversity and fish communities in a freshwater ecosystem. The experiment was performed at an outdoor test-bed for three months from 2011 by comparing the responses to adjustments in the volume of the artificial patch (juvenile fish shelter, JFS) in the control and experimental groups. Analysis of the environmental conditions over two periods (Period1 ~ 2) showed minor differences in the physichemical characteristics of water quality, phytoplankton, and zooplankton biomass, thus, allowing comparative analysis of feeding ecology. However, high water temperature conditions in Period1 ($25.6{pm}2.0^{circ}C$), affected the predation activity of the piscivorous fishes, Coreoperca herzi (C. herzi, size $89{pm}4mm$). Survival rates of the prey fishes, Rhynchocypris oxycephalus (R. oxycephalus, size $29{pm}1mm$), improved as the patch volume increased and were higher than those of the control group by 35.9 ~ 46.7%. Analysis showed that JFS reduced the chances of predator-prey encounter, and thereby minimized prey vulnerability.