Fish surveys of cabin, meadow, craver, kate and north fork d

66 Pages·2001·2.2 MB·English

by  Shepard, Bradley B. (Bradley Bernard)

s
639.3755
F2fsc
2001
Fish Surveys of
Cabin, Meadow,
Graver, Kate, and North Fork Divide Creeks
BLM,
for the Dilion Fieid Office
Bradley B. Shepard
Montana
Fish, Wildlife and Parks
and
Montana Cooperative Fishery Research Unit
1400 South 19^'’
Bozeman, Montana 59718
STATE
DOCUMENTS
COLLECTION
dUH 0 7 2001
state library
HELENA, MONTANA
59620
March 2001
I
BLM
2000 Fisheries Report
Table of Contents
Table ofContents 2
List ofTables 2
List ofFigures 3
Introduction 4
Study Area 4
Methods 4
Results 7
Cabin Creek 7
Craver Creek 15
Kate Creek 17
Meadow Creek 18
North Fork ofDivide Creek 21
Rape Creek 25
Acknowledgements 26
References 26
Appendix B - Summary ofFish Capture Information 28
List ofTables
Table 1. Average lengths (mm), weights (g), and their ranges (in parentheses) for westslope
cutthroat trout (WCT) and brook trout (EBT) captured in BLM streams during 2000 9
Table 2. Total length (m), average length (m), average width (m), average depth (cm), and
average volume (cubic meters) ofeach habitat type and average thalweg depth (cm) and
residual pool volume (cubic meters) by stream and section 12
Table 3. Streambed composition, frequency ofsmall (< 150 mm) and large (>= 150 mm) in-
channel and cross-channel woody debris per km, and square meters ofspawning habitat per
km by stream, section, and date 14
Page 2 of28
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2000 Fisheries Report
List of Figures
Figure 1. Maps ofstreams sampled during 2000 for the BLM showing sample site locations and
stream miles 5
Figure 2. Number ofwestslope cutthroat trout 75 mm and longer captured on the first
m
electrofishing pass per 100 ofstream length (relative catch) in Cabin Creek by stream
kilometer during 2000. No fish were captured in a 60 m section sampled near stream
kilometer 22.5 8
Figure 3. Length frequency histogram for westslope cutthroat trout captured in Cabin Creek
during June 2000 8
Figure 4. Minimum, maximum, and average water temperatures recorded in Cabin Creek at the
Medicine Lodge Creek Road crossing from June 24 to September 30, 2000 15
mm
Figure 5. Number ofwestslope cutthroat and brook trout 75 and longer captured on the first
m
electrofishing pass per 100 ofstream length (relative catch) in Craver Creek by stream
kilometer during 2000. No fish were captured in either a 75 m section sampled near stream
kilometer 4.0 or seen above this point 16
Figure 6. Length frequency histogram for westslope cutthroat (WCT) and brook trout captured
in Craver Creek during June 2000 17
Figure 7. Minimum, maximum, and average water temperatures recorded in Craver Creek at the
Medicine Lodge Creek Road crossing from June 24 to September 30, 2000 18
Figure 8. Length frequency histogram for westslope cutthroat (WCT) and brook trout captured
in Kate Creek during June 2000 19
Figure 9. Catch (number per 100 m) ofwestslope cutthroat trout during the first electrofishing
pass in Meadow Creek from stream km 12.1 up to km 17.7 during mid-July 2000. No fish
were captured at stream km 12.1 or 17.7 20
Figure 10. Length frequency histogram for westslope cutthroat trout captured in Meadow Creek
during July 2000 20
Figure 11. Minimum, maximum, and average daily water temperatures in Meadow Creek during
the summer of2000 at stream kilometer 12.9 (top) and 16.1 (bottom) 22
Figure 12. Catch (number per 100 m) ofwestslope cutthroat trout during the first electrofishing
pass in North Fork ofDivide Creek from stream km 1.6 up to km 7.2 during mid-July 2000.
No fish were captured for at km 7.2 23
Figure 13. Length frequency histogram for westslope cutthroat trout captured in the North Fork
ofDivide Creek during July 2000 23
Figure 14. Minimum, maximum, and average daily water temperatures in the South (top) and
North (bottom) forks ofDivide Creek during the summer of2000. Thermographs in both
forks were exposed to the air for a couple ofdays during the end ofSeptember 24
Figure 15. Minimum, maximum, and average daily water temperatures in Rape Creek during the
summer of2000 25
Page 3 of28
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BLM
2000 Fisheries Report
Introduction
The Montana Cooperative Fishery Research Unit and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP)
were contracted by the Dillon Field Office ofthe BLM to conduct fish surveys in selected waters
ofthe Horse Prairie, Medicine Lodge, and Big Sheep drainages in southwestern Montana to
document the presence and status ofwestslope cutthroat trout {Oncorhynchus clarki lewisi) in
five streams in these drainages.
Study Area
The streams selected by BLM for study included the North Fork ofDivide Creek in the Horse
Prairie drainage; Rape, Kate, and Craver creeks in the Medicine Lodge drainage; and Cabin and
Meadow creeks in the Big Sheep Creek drainage (Figure 1). All these streams except Rape
Creek were sampled during 2000. Sampling was confined to the upper portion ofthese
drainages that were known or suspected to contain westslope cutthroat trout.
Methods
A
systematic sampling scheme was employed to estimate both the relative abundance and
distribution offishes and to quantify stream habitat characteristics. Sample sections ranging
from 45 to 100 m were surveyed at a frequency ofapproximately every 0.8 km (0.5 mile) of
stream length by single-pass electrofishing with backpack Smith-Root electrofishers (Models
SR-12BP, SR-15B). At approximately 3.2 km (2 mile) intervals we conducted two- or four-pass
depletion population estimates (Van Deventer and Platts 1985). Population estimates were not
made when few or no fish were captured during the first electrofishing pass. In Kate Creek,
where much ofthe creek was either inundated by beaver dams or flowed through such dense
stands ofwillow that sampling was not feasible (especially from stream kilometer 5.0 upstream),
the stream was sampled wherever it could be accessed. In many cases the portions ofKate Creek
that could be sampled (above stream kilometer 5.0) were extremely short segments (< 10 m) and
these were aggregated above kilometer 6.5 and reported as a single sampling event.
Sample section lengths were at least 33 times the average wetted stream width. Lyons (1992)
found that when stream lengths of35 times the mean wetted width were sampled with a towed
electrofishing unit, all species offish in fish communities in warm water streams ofWisconsin
were generally captured. Sample sites were referenced by mile above the stream’s mouth and by
latitude and longitude obtained from a global positions system (GPS). Field GPS locations were
ARCVIEW
input into an (Version 3.2; 1999; Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc.)
event theme and projected on 1:100,000 stream hydrography layers. The field GPS locations
were corrected to overlay the hydrography layer and stream kilometer locations when
discrepancies existed between field GPS and mapped locations (Figure 1).
Length (total length in mm) and weight (gm) were recorded for all captured salmonids. For two-
pass estimates to provide reasonable results, we assumed that field calculated probabilities of
capture (calculated as 1- (C /C where Ci= number captured on the first pass, and C = number
2 1); 2
captured on second pass) had to be 0.80 or higher (see Riley and Fausch 1992). If field
Page 4 of28
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2000 Fisheries Report
Figure 1. Maps ofstreams sampled during 2000 for the BLM showing sample site locations and
stream miles.
Page 5 of28
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