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MONTANASTATELIBRARY 308640016 14547 MONTANADEPARTMENTOFFISH,WILDLIFE&PARKS FISHERIESDIVISION JOBPROGRESSREPORT State:Montana ProjectNo F-78-R-5 ProjectTitle:StatewideFisheriesInvestigations JobTitle:NorthcentralMontanaWarmandCoolwaterEcosystems STATEDOCUMENTSCOLLECTION 1998AnnualReport MAY01 2000 MONTANASTATELIBRARY ABSTRACT HELEN1A51,5MEO.N6TtAhNAAVE5.9620 Atotalofthirteenwarm/coolwaterfisheryecosystemsinRegionFourwereinvestigatedduring1998. Harvest ofwalleye populationswas monitored in BynumReservoir, LakeFrancesand Tiber ReservoiralongwithnorthernpikepopulationsinLakeFrancesandTiberReservoir. First-year efoxrplnooirttahteironnpriakteesinvaTirbyefrrRoemsearvlooirw.ofWa7lpleeryceenptopfuolrawtailolnesyreeimnaiLnaksetaFblreanicneBsytnouamhRiegsheorfvo1ir1,pearrceeunpt slightlyinLakeFrancesanddownslightlyinTiber. Youngerwalleyearerecruitinginthefisheryin BynumandFrances. Year-classstrengthofwalleyewasdeterminedforBynum,FrancesandTiber. TheforagebaseatBynumhasgoodyellowperchnumbersandspottailshinerareincreasing. At Frances,yellowperchhavedecreasedwhilespottailshinerhaveincreased. Yellowperchandspottail shinerhavedecreasedatTiber. CiscowerestockedintoTiberforthesecondyearanddatais presentedonsurvivalaswellasprobablespawningofthisspecies. Hydroacousticsurveysand verticalgillnetswereusedtomonitorcisconumbers. ThePortageCouleesectionoftheMissouri Riverwaselectrofishedtomonitortrends. Spottailshiners,introducedintoPetroliaReservoirinJune 1996, 1997,and1998,wereseinedinhighernumbersin1998thanin1997. Captureratesofall speciesofforagefishinPetroliaincreasedin1998. Numbersofwalleyegillnettedincreasedfrom 1997,butyellowperchdecreasedfromrecordhighabundancein1997. InEastForkReservoir,traps caught148northernpikeand38yellowperch. Recordnumbersofjuvenileyellowperchwereseined, butgillnetcatchofadultyellowperchdeclinedsubstantiallyinEastForkReservoir. OBJECTIVES p1refTeroenicdeesn,tiafnydahnadbimtoatnictoonrditthieoncshairnacntoerrtihscteinctsraalndMotnretnadnsaowfafrismhaponpdulcaotoilownast,eranegcloesryshtarevmess.tand 2. Usesurveyandinventoryinformationtoidentifymanagementproblemsandopportunities,then developandimplementmanagementactionstomaintainfishpopulationsatlevelsconsistentwith habitatconditionsorotherlimitingfactors. 1 3. Reviewprojectsproposedbystate,federal,andlocalagenciesandprivatepartieswhichhavethe potentialtoaffectfisheriesresourcesandaquatichabitats. Providetechnicaladviceordecisionsto reduceormitigateresourcedamage. 4. Providelandownersandotherprivatepartieswithtechnicaladviceandinformationtosustainand enhancefisheriesresourcesandaquatichabitat. 5 Enhancepublicunderstandingandawarenessoffisheryandaquatichabitatresourcesandissues innorthcentralMontanathroughoralandwrittencommunication. 6. MaintainandenhancepublicaccesstofisheryresourcesinnorthcentralMontana. PROCEDURES Fishpopulationsweresampledwithaboatmountedelectrofishshocker;standard125x6footmulti- filamentexperimentalgillnets(fishedsinkingorfloating)with25footsectionsof0.75,1.00,1.25, s1q5ua0reamnedsh2:.000.50i,nc0h.7s5q,ua1.r0e0,me1s.2h5;,11.0500daenedp2.x0010infcoh)o;t3wixd4efvoeortticfarlamgielltrnaeptsne(tssix(0n.e2t5sionfcdhifsfqeurairneg mesh);4x6footframetrapnets(1.00inchsquaremesh);a50x4footbeachseine(1/8inchsquare mesh); anda100x10footseine(0.25inchsquaremesh). Stomachsampleswerecollectedfrom sVWeaorlmtlieecyafelispdhlofraosnrakltfosonpoitdnoehwsasbwiewtres.eremSomcuaanldteeeadunsdainnfdginsaer3caty0i/oscnpmeidnceoancsicacomarpldliennsegtwwteoirtemhetatahk1oe5dncsfmodrersaacdgrieiubsaend(d0.bgy1r5Mojawmcthkmasytmuedestihe)asl... (e1s9t9i0m)a.teAthceomnpuumtbeerrproofgwraalmledeyseigcnaeudghbtybLyikangees.(1A9n93i)nwdeaxsoufseydeatro-cgleansesrasttereanggethcoomfpwoaslilteiyoenwaansd calculateusingparametersdevelopedbyGoeman(1993). Agecompositionofagillnetcatchwas rReel-actoinvsetrwuecitgehdtsac(cWorr)dionfgwtaollKeeyte,chneonr’tshesrtnraptiifkieedansudbysealmlpolwinpgermcehtwheordeddeestcerribmeidneidnuRsiicnkgerM(D1F97W5)P. computerprogramswhichutilizeddatainMurphyelal. 1990,Willis1989,andWillisetal. 1991. FloyT-tagswereusedonnorthernpike;FloyT-tags,Cinch-uptagsandmetaljawtagswereused oapnpweaalrlienyge;inatnadblwehsiatnedsuficgkuerreswetrhreofuignhcoluitptpheidsrdeuproirntgasrperaisngfotlrlaopwpsi:ngW.E=Awbablrleevyiaet,ioNnPs—fnoorrftihsehrsnpepciikees, LMB=largemouthbass;Ling=burbot;YP=yellowperch;Rb=rainbowtrout;Cis=cisco;SS=spottail shiner;ES=emeraldshiner;END=longnosedace;LC=lakechub;FHC=flatheadchub;SB-brook stickleback;MSc=mottledsculpin;WSu=whitesuckerandLnSu=longnosesucker. 2 FINDINGS CHOTEAUAREAWATERS BvnumReservoir TrapnetswerefishedinBynumReservoirfromApril21to25,1998,foratotalof45trapnetnights Totalcatchincludes255walleye,22yellowperch,1brooktrout,1cutthroattroutand7,280white sucker Watertemperaturesvariedfrom47-53°Fthroughoutthesurveys. Lengthsandweightsof miscellaneousspeciesareonfileintheChoteau,fieldoffice. Toassistinmonitoringexploitation,greenFloyT-tagsandmetaljawtagswereplacedon206 walleyegreaterthan14inches. Thesefishaveraged19.2inchesand2.63pounds(range14.3-24.9 inchesand0.90-6.50pounds). Anglersreturned14tagsfromthisgroupoffishfornearlya7percent first-yearreturn(Table1). Anglersalsoreturned32additionaltagsfromearliertaggingyears,with the1995cumulativereturnnowtotaling15percent. Smallmeshtrapnets(0.25inch)werefishedovernightinlateJuly. Threetrapnetscaughtatotalof 265young-of-the-year(YOY)walleye,2,185YOYand82yearlingyellowperch,32YOYwhite sucker,1spottailshinerand59crayfish. ShorelineseininginAugustindicatesafairlygoodforage basecomposedofyellowperch,spottailshinerandcrayfish. Naturalreproductionofwalleyewas alsodocumentedduringseiningsurveys.TheseresultsarefoundinAppendixI. Whencomparedto the previousyear,the 1998 findingsexhibitfeweryellowperchandwhitesuckerbutslightly increasedspottailshinernumbers(Figure1). NinesinkinggillnetsinSeptembercaughtatotalof84walleye,43yellowperch, 416whitesucker and 2,370crayfish. ExaminationofTable2indicatesahealthywalleyepopulationwithgood recruitmentofsmallerfish. OverallwalleyenumberscontinuetobestableasshowninFigure2,while yellowperchnumbershavemoderatelyincreased. Crayfishaveraged160pernet,downfromahigh of263pernetin1997. Of23walleyestomachsexaminedinthefieldforfoodcontent,approximatelyone-halfwereempty butnearlyallwereextendedindicatingrecentfeedingactivity. Nearlyone-halfcontainedyellow perchorunidentifiedfishremains Itisinterestingtonotethatonlyonestomachcontainedcrayfish, eventhoughcrayfishareveryabundant. Forthesecondconsecutiveyear,yellowperchspawningstructureswereplacedinBynumReservoir inearlyMay. IncooperationwiththeGreatFallsChapterofWalleyeUnlimited,approximately550 scotchpinetreeswithaconcretebaseweresunkinanareaofabout2acres. Inmid-May,threescuba diverscheckedonthreedifferenttypesofstructuresplacedin1997. Theyobservednumerouseggs, mostofwhichwereonscotchpine,withfewonfirtreesandessentiallynoneontheBerkley“Fish- Hab”structures. .. Table 1. Angler exploitation of walleye and northern pike in Region Four reservoirs as indicated by voluntary tag returns (1994-1998). Year Number Number of returns (%) Lake Species tagged tagged 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 Cumulative Bynum Res WE 11111999999999978465 222435504800763 23( 4.8) 2163(( 27..57)) 1050((( 22O'...900))) 117291(((( 2406....8628)))) 11145171((((( 27045.....30426))))) 2351312858(((((11117257.....234o9))))) Lake ]Frances WE 11111999999999987465 2222847768293 12( 4.9) 1170(( 45..19;) 316((( 211...142))) 11274(((( 2331....1787)))) 102516((((( 22460.....17444))))) 43170505(((((1132766.....84548))))) NP 11111999999999978465 3135215450556 17( 5.4) 269(( 28..90)) 1346(((1314...003))) 2271(((( 4400....5363)))) 50080((((( 59000.....12000))))) 41311558(((((11179920.....41768))))) Tiber Res WE 11111999999999987465 444457969015990 48(10.2) 1643((123..60)) 41807((( 381...065))) 2316391{((( 2750....8262)))) 2426251((((( 49001.....47402))))) 7479611166(((((111159294.....24272))))) NP 1994 153 25(16.3) 0( 0.0) 1( 0.7) l( 0.7) 0( 0.0) 27(17.6) 111999999765 21578092 14( 7.7) 267((103..48)) 1381(((1630...525))) 310((( 011...302))) 231472(((111742...781))) 1998 127 15(11.8) 15(11.8) / © Table 2. Overnightgill netting results in warm and coolwaterreservoirs in the western portion of Region Four, 1998. Water Surface No. of Mean hrs No. of (date sampled) acres 1/ nets 2 oer net SDecies fish Length range fava) Weight range (avg) B(y9n/u2m2-2R3e/s9e8r)voir 2,700 9 S 17.0 WYPE 4213132732 2110639....0023----21114952....2868 ((((12118140....—4126)))) 2001....82718344---- 4301....87348270 (((( —2300....34492706)))) WSu 38533 138..05--1192..47 ((1115..54)) 01..2078-- 13..1226 (( 01..7795)) L(a9k/e15-F1r6a/n9c8e)s 4,000 17 S 17.7 WWNYSPPEu 137942331398178857214 2112111115090605673...........02000106206-----------111211211139075939582...........48978997995 (((((((((((11112112170178294723...........15972988498))))))))))) 00020100101...........0479771716205148049065----------- 44002501101...........1749806396396883705702 ((((((((((( 22000300111...........9598265238079235279091))))))))))) T(i9b/e9r-11R/e9s8e)rvoir 16,400 29 S 17.6 WLCRCYnaSibPWNSrusPEup 1412222121316389839083775421 212111111393609615974637...............130676520805013---------------21112121111111929112074995528...............898449880999588 ((((((((((((((((211111121211117060092938605471................5796480705510381)))))))))))))))) 500000001000111...............924312360076512301032105603602---------------1430201400120101...............076465607377663042275807556700 ((((((((((((((((10200020001201001................91464798144637480640575736446919)))))))))))))))) 1/ Approximate surface acres at time of survey 2/ S = sinkinggill nets. 140 120 100 haul 80 fish/seine 60 No. 40 20 0 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 Year Figure1. ForagefishtrendsinBynumReservoir, 1989-98. net fish/gill No. Figure2. TrendsinthefishpopulationsinBynumRes.(fallgillnets1986-98). LakeFrances Atotalof24trapnetnightsonLakeFrancescaptured69walleye,76northernpike,6burbotand 5whitesucker. SurveyswereconductedfromApril22to25,1998. Inaddition,42short-termgill netscaught33walleyeand2northernpike Watertemperaturerangedfrom46-49°Fduringspring trapping. DatacollectedonmiscellaneousspeciesareonfileintheChoteaufieldoffice. Combiningfishtakenwithbothtypesofsamplinggear,atotalof78walleyeover14inchesinlength weretaggedwithmetaljawtags. Walleyeaveraged17.3inches(range13.8-26.0)and1.68pounds (range0.73-5.44). Likewise,55northernpikeover16inchesweretaggedwithorangeFloyT-tags. Theyaveraged18.8inches(range16.1-26.9)and1.56pounds(range0.92-3.96). Anglersreturnedfourtagsfromwalleyetaggedin1998fora5.1percentharvest(Table1). They alsoreturned19tagsfromfishtaggedinearlieryears,withacumulativeexploitationrateofnearly 14percentforthe1995taggingyear. Anglersalsoreturned12northernpiketags,with5ofthese accountingforafirst-yearreturnofover9percentandtheremaining7tagsbringingthecumulative harvestto9percentforthe1997taggingyear. SamplingofforagefishwasconductedinAugustwith16seinehaulsmadeatpreviouslyestablished shorelinelocations. Spottailshinerweremostabundantwithnearly100fish/pull(AppendixI). Four otherspeciesweretaken,alongwithcrayfish. ExaminationofFigure3showsthatyellowperchYOY havedeclinedforthesecondstraightyearfollowingapeakexperiencedin1996,whilespottailshiner havemorethantripledsincelastyear. FewYOYwalleyewerecollectedduringthesurveys,either asthoseproducednaturallyinthelakeorasthosesurvivingfromastockingof99,340fingerlings madeonJune22,1998. Atotalof17sinkinggillnetswerefishedinLakeFrancesinmid-September. Speciescaughtin decreasingorderofabundancewere:308yellowperch,109walleye,86northernpikeand7white sucker(Table2). Yellowperchcontinuetoincreasefromalowexperiencedin1992(Figure4)while northernpikearesomewhatstable. Walleyenumberstakeningillnetsin1998arehighestsince1990. Gillnetsalsocaptured546crayfishor32/netcatch,downfrom39/netin1997. Forty-twowalleyestomachswereexaminedinthefieldforfoodcontent. Approximately38percent wereempty,unidentifiedfishremainsoccurredin approximately28percent,andcrayfishinabout 21percentofthestomachs. Otheritemsincludefreshwatershrimp,vegetationandtapeworms. A totalof33northernpikestomachshadthefollowingoccurrenceoffooditems:crayfishat42percent andfishremainsat12percent. Alsooccurringinonestomacheach,wereayellowperch,awalleye andanorthernpike. Approximately39percentofthepikestomachswereempty. PishkunReservoir ForagesurveyswereconductedonAugust19, 1998,inwhich 16seinepullsweremadealongthe 7 300 Hyp 250 ss SwSu haul 200 Fish/seine No. 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 Year Figure3. ForagefishtrendsinLakeFrances,1988-98. Figure4. TrendsinthefishpopulationsinLakeFrances(fallgillnets,1986-98). shoreline Young-of-the-yearyellowperchweremostabundantfollowedbyYOYwhitesucker (AppendixI) Foragenumbersappeartocloselyresemblethe1997results Gillnettingresultsfor PishkunReservoirappearintheannualcoldwaterlakesreport(Tews,etal. 1999). TiberReservoir TrapnetswereemployedintwoareasofTiberReservoirduringearlyApriltomonitortrendsin walleyeandnorthernpikepopulations. FortytrapnetnightsintheDevonareacaught138walleye, 69northernpike,39rainbowtrout,9burbot, 18yellowperch,10whitesucker,9longnosesucker, 12carp,1flatheadchuband1cisco. IntheWillowCreekArm(WCA),78trapnetnightscaptured 135walleye,92northernpike,8rainbowtrout,24burbot,555yellowperch,35whitesucker,2 l8-o1ng1n,os1e99s8u,ckaenrdanfdro1mca4r5p-.46W°aFteirnttehmepeWraCtAurefsrroamngAperdilfr1o3m-2405,-4189°9F8.inLthaekeDelvevoenlsarweearefrsotmabAlperialt 2981.3feetM.S.L.throughoutthesurveys. The Marias RiverandtheupperportionoftheWCAwereelectrofishedto obtain additional informationonspeciescomposition. IntheMariasRiver,atotalof292walleyeweretakenalong with7northernpikeand38rainbowtrout. IntheWCA,96walleye,4northernpikeand1rainbow troutwerecaptured. InflowsintheMariasRivervariedfrom400-630cfsfromApril8-11,1998,and watertemperaturesrangedfrom41-46°F. FlowswereabsentintheWCAduringtheApril13-20 surveys. Atotalof475walleyecaughtwithbothtypesofgearfrombothareasofthereservoirweretagged andreleased. Inaddition, 127northernpikeand 102rainbowtroutwerealsotagged. Inthe Devon/MariasRiverarea,275walleyeaveraged15.9inches(range13.8-25.7)and1.35pounds (0.73-6.60),while200walleyeintheWCAaveraged17.6inches(range13.9-25.2)and2.00pounds (range0.85-6.40). Forty-fivenorthernpikeintheDevonareaaveraged21.2inches(range16.1-34.1) and2.67pounds(range0.93-16.3). IntheWCA,82northernpikeaveraged23.3inches(range19.2- 31.0)and3.37pounds(range1.79-9.10). Ninety-fourrainbowtroutintheDevon/MariasRiverarea averaged19.5inches(range14.2-22.4)and2.50pounds(range1.02-3.70). Eightrainbowtroutin theWCAaveraged19.6inches(range17.0-21.1)and2.42pounds(range1.74-3.07). Theaverage sizeoffishwhencombinedfrombothareasisasfollows:walleye-16.6inchesand1.62pounds, northernpike-22.5inchesand3.12pounds;andrainbowtrout- 19.5inchesand2.19pounds. LengthsandweightsofmiscellaneousspeciesareonfileintheChoteaufieldoffice. Throughoutthereportperiod,anglersvoluntarilyreturnedtagsfrom63walleyeand13northernpike (Table1). Offishtaggedin1998,approximately8percentofbothspecieswereharvestedinthefirst year. Highestfirst-yearreturnsforwalleyeinpreviousyearswasover12percentwhilenorthernpike wasover16percent. Cumulativereturnsrangefrom12-19percentforwalleyeand12-18percent fornorthernpike. Anglersalsoreturned3tagsfromrainbowtrout,2from1998andlfrom1997. Movementpatternsofwalleyeandnorthernpikeresemblethosereportedinanearlierreport(Hill, etal. 1998). 9 SmallmeshtrapnetswerefishedintheWCAonJune16-17, 1998. Approximately3400spottail shinerwerecaptured andtransferredtoPetroliaReservoirnearLewistown. ForagesurveyswereconductedinlateAugustatestablishedshorelineseininglocations. Atotalof 68seinehaulscaptured 12species(Appendix1),withspottailshinermostabundantfollowedby yellowperch. ExaminationofFigure5showsthatwhencomparedtopreviousyears,bothspottail andperchnumbershavedeclined. Carpandemeraldshinernumbersaresimilarto1997. YOY walleyeaveraged0.3fish/seinehaul,thelowestrecordedsince1990. Duringthesurveys,reservoir elevationswereapproximately2989feetM.S.L.andwatertemperaturesrangedfrom71-72°F. Atotalof29sinkinggillnetswerefishedthroughoutthereservoirfromSeptember9-11,1998,with eightspeciescaptured(Table2). Yellowperchweremostabundantfollowedbywalleyeandwhite sucker. Anewspecies,cisco,weretakenforthefirsttimeduringthenettingsurveys. Ciscowere introducedin1997foradditionalforageforwalleyeandnorthernpike(Hill,etal,1997). Figure6 showstrendsforthefourmostcommonspeciesinTiberReservoir. Slightincreaseswerenoticed fornorthernpikeandwhitesuckerwhilewalleyeandyellowperchbothdecreasedfrom1997levels. Itshouldbenotedthatwalleyepopulationswerelowestin1985asreportedinanearlierdocument (Hill,etal,1997). NettingresultsforfourindividualareasofthereservoirarefoundinAppendixII. CiscowerealsosampledmonthlyusingovernightverticalgillnetssetattheBootleggerTrailstation. Table3demonstratesciscodistributionbydepthandtemperature. InMay,ciscoweremostcommon inthe0-25'and26-50'depthranges,withtemperaturesrangingfrom55°Fatthesurfaceto47°Fat 50feet. FromJunethroughSeptember,fewfishweretakeninthe0-25'depthrangeastemperatures warmedto73°FatthesurfaceinJulyand76°FinAugust. Mostoftheciscoappearedtoseekdepths of26-75’throughoutthistimeperiod. Temperaturesrangingfrom52-73°Fwererecordedatthese depths. Relativelyfastgrowthwasexperiencedforthisyearclass,attaining4.5inchesinSeptember of1997,increasingto9.4inchesbyJune,1998. GrowthstabilizedfromJunethroughSeptember (9.4-9.8inches). TheOctobersampleshowsaveragelengthincreasedto10.1inches(range8.9- 11.0). SexualdifferentiationwaspossibleasearlyasJune. Approximatelyone-fourthofthemales andfemalescheckedfromJulythroughOctoberweresexuallymatureandwouldlikelyspawnasage 1+fish. InconjunctionwithregulargillnettingsurveysinSeptember,aseriesofsixverticalgillnetswere fishedovernight toobtainciscotrendinformation. CiscoweremostabundantintheBootlegger TrailareafollowedbyWCAandtheDamarea(Table4). Alloftheciscotakenwereage1+fish (1997yearclass)withtheexceptionofsixYOY,includingonefromWCA,onefromtheDamarea, andfourfromtheBootleggerTrailarea. Theonlyotherspeciestakenincludeatotalofthreespottail shinerfromtheWCAandDamarea. Depthsatthenettingstationswere: 94feetatWCA;113feet attheDam;and101feetattheBootlegger. Afternoonsurfacetemperaturesvariedfrom70-72°F atthethreesites. Todeterminewhetherornotciscoweregoingtospawnin1998,additionalsamplingeffortswere undertakenneartheupperendofthereservoirinlateOctoberandearlyDecember. Twosinking