Fisheries Investigations in the Yellowstone and Shields River Basins, Park County, Montana
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Fisheries Investigations in the Yellowstone and Shields River Basins, Park County, Montana Annual Report for 2010 Scott Opitz January 2011 Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks 1400 South 19 th Ave. Bozeman MT 59715 Table of Contents List of Figures ...................................................................................................... iv List of Tables .......................................................................................................vii Abstract .............................................................................................................. viii Objectives ............................................................................................................. 1 State Program Activities and Objectives ........................................................... 1 Local Project Objectives .................................................................................... 1 Electrofishing Procedures ..................................................................................... 2 Yellowstone River Procedures .............................................................................. 2 Corwin Springs Section ................................................................................. 3 9th Street Section ........................................................................................... 3 Yellowstone River Results .................................................................................... 5 Yellowstone River Trout Abundances ............................................................... 5 Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout .............................................................................. 5 Corwin Springs Section ................................................................................. 5 9th Street Section ........................................................................................... 6 Rainbow Trout ................................................................................................... 7 Corwin Springs Section ................................................................................. 7 9th Street Section ........................................................................................... 8 Brown Trout ....................................................................................................... 8 Corwin Springs Section ................................................................................. 8 9th Street Section ........................................................................................... 9 Eastern Brook Trout ........................................................................................ 10 Corwin Springs Section ............................................................................... 10 Shields River Procedures ................................................................................... 10 Convict Grade Section ................................................................................. 13 Tomschin Section ........................................................................................ 13 Shields River Results .......................................................................................... 13 Shields River Abundances .............................................................................. 13 Brown Trout ..................................................................................................... 14 Convict Grade Section ................................................................................. 14 Tomschin Section ........................................................................................ 14 Rainbow Trout ................................................................................................. 15 Convict Grade Section ................................................................................. 15 Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout ............................................................................ 16 Convict Grade Section ................................................................................. 16 Tomschin Section ........................................................................................ 17 Eastern Brook Trout ........................................................................................ 18 Tomschin Section ........................................................................................ 18 Dailey Lake Procedures ...................................................................................... 19 Trap Netting ................................................................................................. 19 Dailey Lake Results ............................................................................................ 20 Rainbow Trout ................................................................................................. 20 Yellow Perch ................................................................................................ 21 Walleye ........................................................................................................ 21 Yellowstone Cutthroat .................................................................................. 22 ii Brook stickleback ......................................................................................... 22 Fish Stocking ...................................................................................................... 22 Walleye ........................................................................................................ 23 Rainbow and Yellowstone Cutthroat ............................................................ 23 Literature Cited ................................................................................................... 25 iii List of Figures • Figure 1: Map of the Upper Yellowstone River drainage displaying the location of the 2010 sampling sections. ......................................................... 4 • Figure 2: Abundance estimates for Yellowstone cutthroat trout ( ≥ 7 in.) in the Corwin Springs Section of the Yellowstone River from 2001-2010. Error bars represent +/- 2 SD. No abundance estimates were made in 2006 and 2008. The section was not sampled in 2003, 2005, and 2007. ..................... 6 • Figure 3: Length-frequency distributions for Yellowstone cutthroat trout sampled in the Corwin Springs Section of the Yellowstone River during 2009 and 2010. ....................................................................................................... 6 • Figure 4: Abundance estimates for rainbow trout ( ≥ 7 in.) in the Corwin Springs Section of the Yellowstone River from 2001-2010. Error bars represent +/- 2 SD. No abundance estimates were made in 2006 and 2008. The section was not sampled in 2003, 2005, and 2007. ................................ 7 • Figure 5: Length-frequency distributions for rainbow trout sampled in the Corwin Springs Section of the Yellowstone River during 2009 and 2010. ..... 7 • Figure 6: Length-frequency distributions for rainbow trout sampled in the 9 th Street Section of the Yellowstone Riverin 2010. ............................................ 8 • Figure 7: Abundance estimates for brown trout ( ≥ 7 in.) in the Corwin Springs Section of the Yellowstone River from 2001-2010. Error bars represent +/- 2 SD. No abundance estimates were made in 2006 and 2008. The section was not sampled in 2003, 2005, and 2007. ................................ 9 • Figure 8: Length-frequency distributions for brown trout sampled in the Corwin Springs Section of the Yellowstone River for 2009 and 2010. ........... 9 • Figure 9: Length-frequency distribution for brown trout sampled in the 9 th Street Section of the Yellowstone River for 2010. ........................................ 10 • Figure 10: Map of the Shields River drainage displaying the 2010 sampling locations ...................................................................................................... 12 • Figure 11: Abundance estimates for brown trout ( ≥ 7 in.) in the Convict Grade Section of the Shields River from 2006-2010. Error bars represent +/- 2 SD. ............................................................................................................ 14 • Figure 12: Length-frequency distributions for brown trout sampled in the Convict Grade Section of the Shields River in 2009 and 2010. ................... 14 • Figure 13: Length-frequency distributions for brown trout sampled in the Tomschin Section of the Shields River in 2010. ........................................... 15 • Figure 14: Abundance estimates for rainbow trout (≥ 7in.) in the Convict Grade Section of the Shields River from 2005-2010. Error bars represent +/- 2 SD. Data were insufficient in 2007 to conduct a population estimate. .... 16 • Figure 15: Length-frequency distributions for rainbow trout sampled in Convict Grade Section of the Shields River in 2009 and 2010. ................... 16 • Figure 16: Number of Yellowstone cutthroat trout sampled in the Convict Grade Section of the Shields River for 2006-2010. ...................................... 17 iv • Figure 17: Length-frequency distributions for Yellowstone cutthroat trout sampled in the Convict Grade Section of the Shields River in 2009 and 2010. ............................................................................................................ 17 • Figure 18: Length-frequency distributions for Yellowstone cutthroat trout sampled in the Tomschin Section of the Shields River in 2010. .................