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<br />The Yampa River within Dinosaur National Monument was divided into four strata based <br /> <br />on a longitudinal gradient (Table 1, Figure 1). The longitudinal stratification of the reaches was an <br /> <br />effort to remove any variation associated with fish abundance that may occur in a downstream <br /> <br />gradient in the Canyon that affects bedrock type and changes in habitat occurring in the Yampa <br /> <br />River as channel substrate size declined downstream. Each stratum (between 13 and 18 kIn long) <br /> <br />was equally divided into two reaches, and the subdivided reaches were randomly designated as <br /> <br />either a treatment or control reach. Channel catfish were removed from treatment reaches during <br /> <br />each pass through the canyon. Catfish were only removed from the control reaches during the final <br /> <br />pass of the field season for comparison of relative densities from removal (treatment) and non- <br /> <br />removal (control) reaches. In 1998, fish from both control and treatment reaches were collected <br /> <br />and removed during a single trip. In 1999, greater effort was applied to each reach and two trips <br /> <br />were required to complete the final pass (two treatment and two control reaches sampled per trip). <br /> <br />Specific treatment and control reaches sampled during the last pass in 1999 were randomly <br /> <br />assigned. Strata boundaries remained constant through both years of the study. <br /> <br />During 1998 several gear types were used to determine the most efficient means of <br /> <br />removal. These methods included electrofishing, fyke nets, hoop nets, and trot lines, and angling. <br /> <br />Removal Methods <br /> <br />The initial effort in this study was directed toward identifying gear efficiency in removing <br /> <br />channel catfish. In 1998, electro fishing, angling, netting (fyke and hoop nets), and trot lines were <br /> <br />used to capture and remove channel catfish (see table 1). Effectiveness was measured by both the <br /> <br />number of fish captured per hour and cost per fish removed from the canyon. Lengths (of all <br /> <br />4 <br />