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YOO^ V&CiXtCb \IVj£P fiotAC DRAFT FISHERIES AND AQUATIC MANAGEMENT ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK 2000 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR U.S. FISH & WILDLIFE SERVICE Fish and Wildlife Service National Park Service Colorado Fish and Wildlife Rocky Mountain National Assistance Office Park Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from LYRASIS Members and Sloan Foundation http://archive.org/details/fisheriesaquaticOOrose FISHERIES AND AQUATIC MANAGEMENT ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK 2000 Prepared by: Bruce D. Rosenlund and Chris Kennedy U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Colorado Fish and Wildlife Assistance Office 755 Parfet Street, Suite 496 Lakewood, Colorado 80215 and Craig Axtell ChiefofResources Management Rocky Mountain National Park 1000 Highway 36 Estes Park, Colorado 80517 30 May 2000 71111 Table ofContents Introduction and Summary Summary ofRMNP Fisheries Management 2 Summary ofRMNP Angler Use 3 Summary ofRMNP Management of Native Fishes 5 Special Studies and Projects 9 RMNP Fisheries Issues 15 RMNP Fisheries Related Activities, 2000-2005 1 Candidate Aquatic Species for Listing 18 Section I - Fisheries Management Introduction and Summary 2 History ofRMNP Fisheries Management 2 Current Management Objectives 23 Lake and Stream Survey Program 23 RMNP Status of Lakes 23 RMNP Aquatic Resources Database 25 Fall River 25 Section II - Angler Use Recreational Fishing Program 27 Creel Survey Program 27 Release ofFish 28 Native Species Angling Program 33 Recommendations 35 Section III - Management ofNative Fish Species Background on Greenback Cutthroat Trout 37 Greenback Cutthroat Trout Pure Historic Populations South Fork Cache la Poudre River 39 Hunters Creek 4 Upper and Middle Hutcheson Lakes 44 Hague Creek 47 Greenback Cutthroat Trout Stocking Program 50 Greenback Cutthroat Trout Restoration Projects Caddis Lake 5 811 North Fork Big Thompson River 55 Hidden Valley Creek 61 Bear Lake 67 West Creek 70 Ouzel Lake and Creek 73 Fern Lake and Creek 82 Odessa Lake 86 Lawn Lake and the Roaring River 89 Lower Hutcheson Lake and Cony Creek 98 Pear Lake and Cony Creek 04 1 Sandbeach Lake 1 1 Spruce Lake 115 Dream Lake 1 1 Greenback Cutthroat Trout Experimental Introductions 12 Crystal Lake 122 Lake Louise 25 1 Lake Husted 127 LoomisLake 130 Lily Lake 133 Other Greenback Cutthroat Trout Populations Big Thompson River-Forest Canyon 136 Arrowhead Lake 141 YpsilonLake 144 Background on Colorado River Cutthroat Trout 147 Colorado River Cutthroat Trout Pure Historic Populations LakeNanita 148 Adams Lake 52 1 Colorado River Cutthroat Trout Restoration Projects Timber Lake 54 1 Bench Lake and Ptarmigan Creek 158 Other Colorado River Cutthroat Trout Populations Paradise Creek 165 Fifth Lake 167 Columbine Creek 69 1 Onahu Creek 171 Boundary Lake 74 1 Upper Colorado River 177 Willow Creek 180 Other Native Fish Species 83 1 Literature Cited 187 Tables Table Water, Hectares/Kilometers, Elevation, Year ofLast Survey and Species Present, 1. RMNP Lakes and Streams, 2000 Table 2. Water, Year ofLast Survey, Species Present, Average Length, Fish Per lOO'/Net RMNP Hour and Kg/Ha, Lakes and Streams, 2000 RMNP Table 3. Greenback Cutthroat Trout Waters by Purity, Elevation, Biological Status and Hectares/Kilometers, 2000 RMNP Table 4. Colorado River Cutthroat Trout Waters by Purity, Elevation, Biological Status and Hectares/Kilometers, 2000 RMNP Table 5. Cutthroat Trout Waters by Subspecies, Elevation, Biological Status and Hectares/Kilometers, 2000 RMNP Table 6. Brook Trout Waters by Elevation, Biological Status and Hectares/Kilometers, 2000 Table 7. RMNP Brown Trout Waters by Elevation, Biological Status and Hectares/Kilometers, 2000 RMNP Table 8. Rainbow Trout Waters by Elevation, Biological Status and Hectares/Kilometers, 2000 RMNP Table 9. Waters by Elevation, Biological Status and Hectares/Kilometers, 2000 Table 10. Fish Population and Substrate Changes, Following the Lawn Lake Flood, Fall River Downstream ofRoaring River, RMNP 1980-1987. Table 11. Stream Surveys, RMNP, 1984. Table 12. Stream Surveys, RMNP, 1985. Table 13. Stream Surveys, RMNP, 1986. Table 14. Stream Surveys, RMNP, 1987. in Table 15. Stream Surveys, RMNP, 1988-1989. RMNP Table 16. Creel Survey, East Side, 1984. RMNP Table 17. Creel Survey, West Side, 1984. RMNP Table 18. Creel Survey, East Side, 1985. RMNP Table 19. Creel Survey, East Side, 1986. RMNP Table 20. Creel Survey, West Side, 1986. RMNP Table 21. Creel Survey, East Side, 1987. RMNP Table 22. Creel Survey, East Side, 1988. RMNP Table 23. Creel Survey, West Side, 1988. RMNP Table 24. Creel Survey, East Side, 1989. RMNP Table 25. Creel Survey, West Side, 1989. RMNP Table 26. Creel Survey, East Side, 1990. RMNP Table 27. Creel Survey, West Side, 1990. RMNP Table 28. Creel Survey, East Side, 1991. Table 29. RMNP Creel Survey, West Side, 1991. RMNP Table 30. Creel Survey, East Side, 1992. Table 31. RMNP Creel Survey, West Side, 1992. RMNP Table 32. Creel Survey, East Side, 1993. Table 33. RMNP Creel Survey, West Side, 1993. RMNP Table 34. Creel Survey, East Side, 1994. Table 35. RMNP Creel Survey, West Side, 1994. RMNP Table 36. Creel Survey, East Side, 1995. IV Table 37. RMNP Creel Survey, West Side, 1995. RMNP Table 38. Creel Survey, East Side, 1996. Table 39. RMNP Creel Survey, West Side, 1996. RMNP Table 40. Creel Survey, East Side, 1997. RMNP Table 41. Creel Survey, West Side, 1997. RMNP Table 42. Creel Survey, East Side, 1998. RMNP Table 43. Creel Survey, West Side, 1998. RMNP Table 44. Creel Survey, East Side, 1999. RMNP Table 45. Creel Survey, West Side, 1999. Appendices x\ppendix Colorado River Cutthroat Trout Taxonomy Report, Bench Lake, Rocky 1. Mountain National Park, 1998-1999. Don S. Proebstel, World Salmonid Institute, Department ofFishery and Wildlife Biology-Colorado State University. Appendix 2. 1998-1999 Taxonomy Table. Don S. Proebstel, World Salmonid Institute, Department ofFishery and Wildlife Biology-Colorado State University. Appendix 3. Binns Rating Sytem for Fish Taxonomy. RMNP Appendix 4. Fishing Regulations List ofFigures RMNP Figure 1. Catch Rates Based on Angler Interviews 1984-1999 29 Figure 2. RMNP, East Side, Species Composition ofFish Reported Caught, 1984-1999 30 Figure 3. RMNP, West Side, Species Composition ofFish Reported Caught, 1984-1999 31 RMNP Figure 4. Percentage ofFish Reported Released, 1985-1999 32 Figure 5. Species Composition ofFish Sampled at Hidden Valley Creek, RMNP, 1977-1999 64 Figure 6. Species Composition From Sampling ofFall River, RMNP, 1965-1999, Cascade Cottages Trend Site 184 Figure 7. Species Composition From Sampling ofBig Thompson River, RMNP, 1980-1999, Mailbox Junction Trend Site 185 VI