Bighorn Basinbasin Angler News

2014 Wyoming Game and Fish Department–Cody Region BighornBighorn BasinBasin Angler News Cody Region welcomes new fish supervisor - Tara Teaschner The Wyoming Game and Fish Bighorn River and all waters on agencies and organizations to Department welcomes new the west slope of the Bighorn manage fisheries in the area.” fisheries supervisor Craig Ama- Mountains that drain into the Amadio earned a bachelor’s dio to the Cody Region. Bighorn River, the Greybull degree in fish and wildlife man- River and associated drainages, Amadio replaces fisheries su- agement and a master’s degree the Shoshone River and associ- pervisor Steve Yekel who re- in zoology and physiology from ated drainages, and the Clarks tired after 37 years with the the University of Wyoming. His Fork River and associated department. Amadio moved to graduate work focused on distri- Inside this issue: drainages. Cody from Green River where bution and habitat use of sauger he served as a fisheries biolo- Amadio said that he values the in the Wind River drainage. New Fish Supervisor in Cody 1 gist for eleven years with the uniqueness and diversity of Amadio is an outdoor enthusiast Game and Fish. Previously, he fisheries the Cody Region of- It’s been a long cold winter 2 who enjoys hunting, fishing, worked as a fisheries techni- fers. “There is a nice mix of camping and skiing. “Growing Hogan Reservoir 2 cian for three seasons in Lan- major sport fish waters, high up in Wyoming, I spent a lot of der. mountain systems and native Fish need water 3 time outdoors,” Amadio said. “I fisheries,” he said. “I am look- As Cody Region fisheries su- developed a passion for wildlife Walleye in Buffalo Bill 4 ing forward to working with the pervisor, Amadio oversees the through outdoor experiences I public, diverse angler groups Brook trout—king of the hill 5 management of waters in the shared with my family growing and collaborating with other Cody Region which include the up in Lander.” Update on Porcupine Creek 6 “The diversity in wildlife re- Eagle Creek cutthroat restoration 6 sources and outdoor recrea- Sunshine Reservoirs 7 tional opportunities in the Cody area were a big draw for me,” he Watercraft inspections at borders 8 said. “I am eager to take on the Illegal Introductions 9 responsibilities and challenges of managing fisheries in the Walleye Management 9 area and am looking forward to Contact us 10 working with the two out- standing fisheries biologists stationed in the region.” Join Us on Facebook & YouTube Bighorn Basin Angler News Volume 16 Page 1 Wyoming Game and Fish Department—Cody Region Yep, it’s been a long cold winter - Sam Hochhalter If you think this winter has been Basin. Dead fish have been and summer as it is highly “Even carp, a fish a bit too long, you’re not alone. reported in Renner Reservoir, unlikely that all the fish perished. The cold temperatures and Horseshoe Pond, and South In fact, for reservoirs such as known for it’s high above average snowfall has Worland Pond, to name a few, Renner, the loss of some fish will made it a tough winter for the over the latter half of the win- free up food resources for those tolerance for low fish living in our lowland reser- ter. Site investigations at sev- individuals that survived. With voirs and ponds. Prolonged eral of these waterbodies more food available, we expect to oxygen levels in periods of cold temperatures found that even carp, a fish see better growth in the bass led to these waterbodies being known for it’s high tolerance of that survived during this upcom- water perished covered with ice for an extended low oxygen levels in water per- ing summer. period of time. Without oxygen ished during this past winter. during this past exchange with the overlying air, Although winter kills can ap- the water in these ice-covered pear to be extensive (several winter.” ponds and lakes can become hundred dead fish along shore- depleted of oxygen which can lines), don’t let this deter you lead to fish kills. And such was from fishing them this spring the case throughout the Bighorn Hogan Reservoir - Jason Burckhardt Hogan Reservoir is a 35 acre 15 inches. The largest fish tipped the scales at 6.16 reservoir situated on BLM land sampled was a cutthroat that pounds. 20 miles northwest of Cody off measured 24.1 inches and of county road 7RP. Hogan “The trout Reservoir is often overlooked by 30 anglers headed to neighboring 25 population in Luce Reservoir that is managed 20 under the “trophy” manage- 15 Hogan Reservoir ment concept, catch –and- release only. Hogan Reservoir 10 has responded is managed under the put-and- 5 grow concept under the state- offishPercent 0 positively to the wide limit of six fish. Each year 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 1,700 sub-catchable (4-5 inch) Length (inches) chemical removal cutthroat trout are stocked into of suckers and Hogan Reservoir where they The length frequency of cutthroat trout sampled in Hogan Reservoir grow to a “catchable” size in 2013. chubs.” (greater than 8 inches) in less than a year. In 2005 the reservoir was drawn down to it’s minimum pool to improve the outlet struc- ture. We used that opportunity to chemically treat the reservoir with the chemical rotenone to remove the abundant sucker and chub population that was affecting stocked trout growth and survival. The trout population has responded positively to the chemical removal of suckers and chubs. When sampled in 2013, stocked cutthroat av- Cutthroat stocked into Hogan Reservoir have shown incredible eraged over 13 inches with a growth with the largest sampled just over 24 inches and six good number of cutthroat over pounds. Bighorn Basin Angler News Volume 16 Page 2 2014 Fish need water - Sam Hochhalter I have had the pleasure of work- We cooperate with partners such incubating trout eggs improving ing with some truly great and as Friends of Bighorn Lake and hatch success. These flushing interesting people over the the Bureau of Reclamation on flows have only been possible years. As my career in fisheries water management issues within during years with an average or management has advanced, the the Bighorn River watershed with above average snowpack. wisdom shared by long-time the goal of balancing consump- veterans of fish management tive uses of water with maintain- has proven to be invaluable time ing quality reservoir and river and again. fisheries. While working for Montana Fish, Trout abundance in regional Wildlife and Parks in Dillon I tailwaters: asked a soon-to-retire coworker The tailwater fisheries of the what he had learned after 25+ Shoshone and Bighorn rivers are years as a fisheries professional. among the most popular fisher- After a brief pause, he said “fish ies in the Cody region. Trout need water.” abundance in these two rivers is While Tim was not exactly directly linked to overwinter known as a man of many words, (Oct—Mar) flows. As a rule of I expected that after 25 years he thumb, more water in the river would have a little more to say throughout the winter leads to than simply “fish need water.” increased survival and thus When water is abundant the shallow shorelines of Bighorn Lake get inun- It wasn’t until a few days later more trout the following sum- dated and provide great habitat for forage fish. that the hidden message within mer. Tim’s words of wisdom hit me. Recruitment of sauger in the And now seven years later I am Bighorn River: convinced there is no better 3- word summary of fisheries man- Unlike some fish such as trout, agement in the Rocky Mountains sauger do not successfully repro- and here are four examples from duce every year. In fact, it is not the Cody Region to help explain uncommon for some sauger why. populations to go 4-5 years without successfully reproducing. In Forage fish abundance in Big- general, sauger in the Bighorn horn Lake: River successfully reproduce Whether it’s walleye and small- during years when spring runoff mouth bass in the Montana end is relatively high and prolonged or sauger and channel catfish on (e.g., 2011) and do not repro- the Wyoming end, the fisheries duce when spring runoff is low of Bighorn Lake rely heavily on and water temperatures are Emerald shiners are an important forage fish in Big Horn Lake. forage fish production. The relatively high (e.g., 2012 and abundance of forage fish such 2013). as emerald shiners is closely tied Natural recruitment of trout in to the amount of shallow shore- the Bighorn River: line that is submerged in the Wyoming end of the reservoir The wedding of the waters sec- during summer months. In gen- tion of the Bighorn River is cur- eral, smaller snowpacks and rently at an all time high in terms drier springs and summers result of trout abundance. This is the in less water in Bighorn Lake. result of relatively high levels of Less water means less sub- natural recruitment of rainbow merged shoreline vegetation trout which is largely attributed (i.e., less habitat for forage to planned flushing flows below fishes) which in turn can lead to Boysen Dam. Flushing flows lower abundance of forage fish. remove fine sediment from Flushing flows in the Bighorn River are essential to remove fine sediment from trout spawning gravels. Bighorn Basin Angler News Volume 16 Page 3 Wyoming Game and Fish Department—Cody Region Who’s eating whom in Buffalo Bill Reservoir? – Jason Burckhardt If you read our newsletter last year, you learned that we are conducting a study on Buffalo “Our goal is to Bill Reservoir to determine if the wild rainbow and cutthroat fish- determine if ery is sustainable in light of the predators in the reservoir.

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