The History and Status of Fishes in the Little Lost River Drainage, Idaho Bart L. Gamett May 1999 Lost River Ranger District Upper Snake Region Idaho Falls District Salmon-Challis National Forest Idaho Department of Fish and Game Bureau of Land Management Sagewillow, Inc. F'ORWARD AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This document representsthe culmination of a cooperative effort by several agenciesand individuals over a sevenyear period. The field work was fundedby the U.S. ForestService, Bureau of Land Managemen! and Idaho Department of Fish and Game. The U.S. Forest Service, Idaho Department of Fish and Game, Bureau of Land Management,and Idaho Division of Environmental Quality provided personnel and equipment for field work. The data analysis and report preparationwas funded by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game and the U.S. Forest Service. Additional funding was provided by Sagewillow, Inc, a landowner in the Little Lost River drainage. Mike Foster,Lost River RangerDistrict, Salmonand Challis National Forests;Bob Martin, Upper SnakeRegion, Idaho Department of Fish and Game; Mark Gamblin, Upper SnakeRegion, Idaho Department of Fish and Game; Pat Koelsch, Idaho Falls District, Bureau of Land Management; and Leon Jadlowski, Salmon and Challis National Forests each provided helpful reviews of the manuscript. Without this cooperative effort, this study and report would not have been possible. The authorwishes to expressappreciation to the following individuals who assistedin the completion ofthis project. USDA Forest Service Daryl Moss - assistingwith survey methodology and field work Jeff Knisely - assistingwith survey methodology, field work, and report preparation Brett High - assistingwith survey methodology,field work, report preparation,data analysis, and conducting the aging and maturity study Mike Foster, Leon Jadlowski, and Jan Pisano - assistingwith survey methodology Melissa Abbott - report preparation Ryan Spencer and Mitch Day - assistingwith preparation of GIS coveragesand maps and assisting with field work Alyce Clark,LindaFoster, and Brad Gamett - assistingwith report preparationand field work Beoky Lish, Will Marcroft, Dan Cunderman,Rosa Erickson, Marie Shaffer, Scott Sayer,Roy Churchwell, Dave Fallis, Cody Schmidt, Chris Schmidq Dave Kearns, Karen Place, Jake Lewis, Brian O'Hearn, Shawn Childs, Kam Nelson, Brett High, Mitch Day, Brett Gamett, Connie Hurst, Rachel Pieterick, and Randy Schluter - assistingwith field work Idaho Department of Fish and Game Bob Martin - assistingwith report preparation Mark Gamblin - assistingwith survey methodology and providing accessto file data Bruce Rich - assistingwith survey methodology and field work Beoky Lish - assistingwith report preparation Sharon Clark - conducting stocking records research Crystal Christensen- technical typing USDI Bureau of Land Management Pat Koelsch - providing technical assistance,access to file data, and assistingwith field work Dan Kotansky - assistingwith field work Cindy Weston - providing accessto file data Idaho State Division of Environmental Qualitv DonZaroban - identification of sculpin Tom Herron - technical assistanceand assistancewith field work Sheryl Hill - assistingwith field work Idaho State Universitv Dr. Jack Griffith - technical assistanceand assistancewith field work Volunteers Charmaine Gamett - assistingwith field work, data analysis,and report preparation Ashley Waddoups - report preparation Paula Gamett - historical research Heather Gamett - report preparation TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT.... 1 INTRODUCTION STUDY AREA 2 Location and Setting ) Climate 2 Lands and Administration 4 Methods 5 FINDINGS AND DISCUS SION 8 Part 1: History and Overview 8 Water 8 Streams 8 Disoharge 8 Temperatures.... 8 Lakes and Reservoirs . 8 1a SpeciesPresent IJ SpeciesOrigin t3 Previous Work . 15 Fishery ManagementHistorY 16 Habitat ManagementHistory 18 Part2: Species 18 Introduction 18 Bull Trout 20 Distribution 20 HistoricDistribution 2A Life History Strategies 22 Diet . 24 Growth 24 SexualMaturity 25 Spawning,Incubation, and Rearing 25 HabitatCharacteristics. 26 PopulationTrend 30 aa Threatsto Bull Trout Populations -lJ aa StreamTemperature . JJ Hybridization,Competition, and Predation by Exotic Brook Trout . 34 Disruptionof MigratoryCoridors 35 LossThrough Irrigation Ditches 36 Artifi cial MigrationBarriers 36 AnglerHarvest 36 Lossof Coverand Habitat Complexity 36 Sediment 37 an Brook Trout . JI Distribution 37 TABLE OF CONTENTS (Cont.) Maturity ......39 Growth .......39 RainbowTrout. .......39 Distribution ....39 Growth .......42 ShortheadSculpin .....43 CutthroatTrout. ......43 Guppy,Green Swordtail, Amelanic Convict Cichlids, Mozambique Tilapia, andGoldfish.... 47 Brown Trout . A1 GoldenTrout . 47 MountainWhitefish 48 Grayling 48 Part3: Subdrainages. 48 Introduction 48 AspenUreeK 48 BadgerCreek 49 BarneyCreek (Including Barney Hot Springs) . ' 50 BarneyHot Springs 50 BasinCreek 50 BasingerCanyon 52 BearCanyon 52 BearCreek 52 Bell MountainCreek (Basinger Canyon) 53 Big Creek 53 Big SpringsCreek 55 BirchBasin 56 BirdCanyon.... 56 Black Canyon 56 BlackCreek 56 Black Tail Canyon 57 BoulderCreek and Fowler Springs 57 BriggsCanyon 57 BuokCanyon.... 57 Bull Creek 57 BuntingCanyon 58 Cabin Fork . 58 CampCreek (Sawmill Canyon) 58 CampCreek (Southern Lemhi MountainRange) 59 CedarRun Canyonand Mud Spring 59 CedarvilleCanyon (including North Fork andCabin Fork) ' 60 Chicken Creek . 60 Coal Creek 60 Corral CanyonCreek 6I CorralCreek 6l TABLE OF CONTENTS (Cont.) Cub Canyon 61 Deep Creek 6l Deer Creek (seealso Deer Creek, North Fork; Deer Creek, South Fork) 6I Deer Creek, North Fork . 62 Deer Creek, South Fork . 64 Dry Creek 64 EastCanyon.... 66 Eightmile Canyon (including Right and Left forks) 66 Fallert Springs 67 Fallert Springs Creek 67 Firebox Creek 67 Fowler Springs 68 Garfield Creek 68 Hawley Canyon 68 Hawley Creek 68 HellCanyon.... 69 Hilts Creek 69 Horse Creek 69 HorseLake Creek 70 HorsethiefCanyon Creek 70 HurstCanvon... 70 Iron Creek 7l JacksonCreek 72 Jumpoff Canyon. 72 Little Lost River, Mainstem (including Sawmill Creek) 72 Long Lost Creek 78 Magpie Springs 78 Mahogany Creek 78 Main Fork Little Lost River . 79 MassacreCreek 79 Meadow Creek 79 Middle Canyon 80 Mill Creek 80 Moffett Creek (including Moffett Springs) 8l Moffett Springs 81 Moonshine Creek 82 Mormon Gulch 82 MudSprings.... 82 North Creek 82 North Fork (CedarvilleCanyon) ....., 83 Pine Creek 83 QuigleyCreek 83 Redrock Creek 84 RockyRunCreek(SunnyBarCanyon).. ........85 SandsCanvon ...'....85 llt TABLE OF CONTENTS (Cont.) SandsCreek 85 Sawmill Canyon 85 SawmillCreek 85 Sixmile Canyon 86 SlideCreek 86 SmithieFork 86 SouthCreek 88 SquawCreek (Sawmill Canyon) 89 SquawCreek (Sawmill Canyon), North Fork . 89 SquawCreek (Wet Creek) . 90 SummerhouseCanyon 9l SummitCreek 92 SunnyBar Canyon 94 Taylor Canyon 94 TimberCreek 94 UncleIke Creek 95 Van Dorn Canyon 96 Warm Creek 96 Warm SpringsCreek 97 Wet Creek 97 WilliamsCreek t02 Y Springs r03 UnnamedTributary (1 km southof Warm Creek) 103 Otherunnameddrainages. 103 Part4: Lakesand Reservoirs . 103 Introduction ... 103 Big Creek i04 Lower Big Creek Lake (beaver pond) r04 Big CreekLake#2 104 Dry Creek 104 Dry CreekReservoir 104 Copperlake. ... '... 105 Dry CreekPond 105 Dry CreekLake #1 Swauger Lake #l 105 SwaugerLake#2 106 Swauger Lake#3 106 Dry Creek Lake#2 106 Dry Creek Lake#3 r07 Dry Creek Lake#A 107 HorseLake Creek 107 Horselake.... 107 Long Lost Creek r07 Shadow Lake #1 (lower) r07 Shadow Lake #2 (upper) 107 TABLE OF CONTENTS (Cont.) LongLost Creek Lake 108 Mill Creek 108 Mill CreekLake . 108 SummitCreek .. ..... 109 SummitCreek Reservoir 109 wet creek 109 NolanLake . 109 RECOMMENDATIONS 110 HabitatManage ll0 Fish Manageme i11 Education 111 LITERATURE CITED 1t2 APPENDICES t16 LIST OF TABLDS Table1. Meanyearly and monthly temperature and precipitation for Howe,Idaho (re6r- 1990). Table2. Mean and annual discharges(m3/s) for Little Lost River (adaptedfrom Stone et al. 1993). I I Table3. Summaryof watersand species stocked in the Little Lost River drainage(adapted from IdahoDepartment of Fish andGame stocking records) l7 Table4. Mean anglercatch rates and species composition for the Little Lost River drainage. 18 Table5. Comparisonof bull trout lengthsat annulusfrom the Little Lost River to other systems 24 Table6. Comparisonof bull trout densitiesand habitat characteristics from SmithieFork (relativelyhigh density)and Timber Creek (relatively low density) 27 Table7. Relationshipbetween trout species composition (1995, 1996, or 1997)and maximum summerstream temperature in 1997in the mainstemof the Little Lost River . 29 Table8. Relationshipbetween trout species composition (1995, 1996, ot 1997)and maximum summerstream temperature in 1997in Wet Creek 29 Table9. Comparisonof estimatedtrout/km in the Little Lost River betweenthe Forest boundaryand SummitCreek between 1984 and 1997 (Elle et al. 1987,Corsi and Elle 1989,present study) )z Table10. Comparisonof estimatedtrout/km in the Litfle Lost River from the Forestboundary to SmithieFork between1987 and 1997 (Corsi and Elle 1989,present study) )z Table11. Comparisonof brooktrout lengthsat annulusfrom the Little Lost River drainage with brook trout from other systems . 40 Table12. Comparisonof rainbowtrout lengthsat annulusfrom the Little Lost River drainage with rainbowtrout of othersystems Aa TABLE OF CONTENTS (Cont.) Table13. Summary of sculpin collections from the Little Lost River drainage . 44 Table14. Summary of electrofishing data from Badger Creek . " . 49 Table15. Summaryof electrofishingdatafrom