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<br />ITURE
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<br />-Li
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<br />E~. ,JIlnOHS
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<br />Gunnison River E~pe(lI1lon'.
<br />which has-operated a fishing
<br />gUide servICe through Gunnl.
<br />son Gorge SInce 1981, oner. I
<br />variety 01 packages on that riv-
<br />er as well as surrounding
<br />streams. For the popuht' '4.
<br />mile stretch JuSl below Black
<br />Canyon Nat,onal Monument.
<br />the cost IS $150 ~r person per
<br />day lor two or !h/&&-day Iloatt,
<br />two anglers per boat
<br />Furlhe, inlormalion may be
<br />ObTamed by wrlhng Bo~ 604,
<br />Hotchkiss. COlo. 61419: phone
<br />527-3648.
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<br />8,eautiful as it is, this rainbow couldn't spot the fraud of a girdle bug.
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<br />avid Hall, left, and Hank Hotze take the measure of a Gunnison River rainbow. Tale otthe tape: 18 inches.
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<br />The [krl\:ef P08t/Thursday. Au~[.;t 20. 19R7
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<br />Not a dream:
<br />Rainbow fishing
<br />can still improve
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<br />MONTROSE - Unex-
<br />celled and getting
<br />better,
<br />Those are but a
<br />few of the words
<br />Barry Nehring uses to describe
<br />that stretch of the lower Gunnison
<br />River upon which he has kept such
<br />close watch for the better part of a
<br />decade. Nehring is a biolOgist WIth
<br />the Colorado Division of Wildlife
<br />who monitors the state's trout
<br />streams from his office in Mon-
<br />trose. H scarcely is surprising that
<br />his favorite - and the one he
<br />knows best - is the one that nows
<br />a few miles from his office.
<br />"There Is nothing llke it in Colo-
<br />rado for trout over 16 inches long,
<br />onl)' a couple in Lhe entire Wesl,"
<br />Nehnngsaid of this gold. medal wa-
<br />ter, tickJng off the slatlstics of his
<br />trade lhat prove the point.
<br />"There are from 550 to 600 trout
<br />that size per mile. Only the first
<br />two miles of the Frying Pan below
<br />Ru('d! Dam is slightly better. Rut
<br />the Gunnison's numbers hold up
<br />for the entire 26 miles from Crystal
<br />Dam down to the connuence with
<br />UleNorth Fork."
<br />Nor do Nehring's 51lperlalives
<br />stop there.
<br />"There's no stream In the West
<br />with as man)' large rainbow trout
<br />per mile," he declared. "There
<br />may be some in Monlana with
<br />mon> large browns, the Beaver-
<br />head perhaps, but nothing to com-
<br />pare for rainbows."
<br />i\ehring's best news is thal he
<br />expects the Gunnison to keep im.
<br />pro\'ing, particularly If the Bureau
<br />of Reclamation cooperates in rE'gu-
<br />laling nows from lhe three power.
<br />production resE'rvoirs upstream
<br />from the Black Can~'on of the Gun.
<br />nison Kational ~Ionument. I':rratic
<br />spring nows, partly through ne-
<br />glect, the rest ill fortune, cost
<br />much of the rainbow troul repro-
<br />duction from 1983 to 19B.}, a loss
<br />that almost certainly wlll cauSf'
<br />some lag in the population in th!'
<br />immediate future.
<br />"The heavy runoff of 1983 and
<br />1984 washed out a lot of the ram.
<br />bow frv, but we would hav(' had a
<br />fme hatch in 1981) except for a clim-
<br />bing accident in which the body fell
<br />in the rivl.'r," t\ehrlng continued.
<br />.. First they dropped the water all
<br />th~ way down to 300 cubic feet per
<br />second to aid the search and then
<br />lhey had lo jump the now way
<br />above normal to catch up on their
<br />releaseschroule.
<br />"This left a lot of fry and eggs
<br />high and dry and then the big flows
<br />blastN! the fry which were Just
<br />po~ng their noses out of the grav.
<br />.e1.
<br />But Nehring points to an im-
<br />proved rainbow hatch In 19f16 and
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<br />an excellent reproduction last
<br />spring as portent of grand things to
<br />com('.
<br />"The bureau's attitudes are
<br />changing with the realization that
<br />in the years ahead outdoor recre.
<br />atlon will be a bigger faclor in the
<br />economy of the Western Slope than
<br />agriculture. We're making great
<br />strides in now manageml.'nt."
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<br />But there Is troublE' immt'fliatelv
<br />ahead for thos~ outfitters and fish.
<br />ermen who fklat that 14.mile sec.
<br />lion through GQ:nnlson Gorge just
<br />downstream, (fom the mmlUrnenl.
<br />To repair a ttlrbine In the Blue ~re.
<br />sa Dam, uppermost of the three
<br />storage unHs, the Bureau of Recla.
<br />mation ~ronday cut the flow to ap-
<br />proximately 1,300 cubic f('cl,cz"'r
<br />second, a condition that will en-
<br />dure for six months.
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<br />Allowing for a loss of up to ],000
<br />cfs lhrough th(> Gunnison Tunnel
<br />for cropland irrigation and a ,ll:ain _:
<br />of 100 cfs from sid!> nows, this proJ'
<br />ecls to little more than 400 ds
<br />through the gorge, a volume that
<br />will make raftlllg more difficult.
<br />The situation should be alleViated
<br />latN in S('plember when irrigation
<br />demands subside. ...
<br />!lank Jlot1.e, a fishIng guide who
<br />operates Gunnison RivE'r Expedi.
<br />tions in nl'arbv Hotchkiss. laments
<br />the timing of the repair and also
<br />fears that the low waler will ex.
<br />pose the trout to excessive harvest.
<br />"Ir they had waited just two
<br />months, we wouldn't have lost
<br />some of the bt>st floating of the
<br />year," said lIot7.l', who emphasizes
<br />an environmenla] awanmess and
<br />led a coalilion to keep the lower
<br />flver fHoe of dam proj!'C1S_ lIolze
<br />abm favors a rPduction of th{' pres-
<br />t'nt cn'ellimit of four fish thai slip'
<br />ulales than only one can be- liver 16
<br />inches long and that all bt'twt'cn 12
<br />and 16 inches hi' returned to the
<br />water. Onl)' flies and lures may bt,
<br />used. 1I0tzC' also fears that infre.
<br />quent law enforcement, principally
<br />through kayak patrols, wi]] nOI
<br />s('r\'e Lo dissuadl' fish hogs who
<br />ki'ep far in excess of the limIt. his.
<br />torically a probl€'m here.
<br />1'\ehring believC's the presl'nt reo
<br />strictions, implemented in 1982, an'
<br />proleCtion enough.
<br />"We haw so many smalli'r
<br />browns in the riw'l' as a result of
<br />VNY good fall reproduction that it
<br />doesn't hurt to take a few (4~}.hem
<br />out."
<br />lIot1l' argues for a ti'ghter limit
<br />"We're now In positIOn to dfllmaLi.
<br />caUy Improve lhis strt'lch by keep.
<br />ing some of these larger fish In th('
<br />waler.
<br />"This may bt, the bt'st tiVt'r in
<br />the West, but even the besecan get
<br />better."
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