Table Of ContentMONTANASTATELIBRARY
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
