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<br />The objectives of this paper are to describe the unique <br />nature of striped bass population dynamics in Lake Powell from <br />1974 to 1998. Various striped bass life history aspects are <br />presented and compared with other waters. The predator/prey <br />relationship between striped bass and threadfin shad is <br />discussed, along with management implications derived from 25 <br />years of research and monitoring. <br /> <br />HISTORICAL BACKGROUND <br /> <br />The striped bass population has been monitored from initial <br />stocking to the present by the Utah Division of wildlife <br />Resources with funding from federal grants, including section 8 <br />of the Colorado River Storage Project, Dingell-Johnson Project <br />F-28-R and more recently OJ Project F-46-R. <br />Striped bass stocking began in 1974 and concluded in 1979 <br />with a total of 815,000 striped bass fingerlings stocked in <br />various locations about the lake (Table 1). Young striped bass <br />grew rapidly, feeding on an abundant forage population of <br />threadfin shad that was previously unexploited in pelagic <br />reservoir areas. Initial growth was rapid nearing the highest <br />recorded growth of any landlocked striped bass population <br />(Gustaveson et al. 1980). The first cohort of stocked striped <br />bass matured in 1979. Mature adults and subsequently young-of- <br />year (yoy) striped bass were collected near the Colorado River <br />inflow where spawning fish would have been attracted by river <br />currents. <br />Mature adults also staged and spawned near Glen Canyon Dam <br />some 300 km from the Colorado River inflow. Spawned eggs hatched <br />despite the absence of turbulent river currents thought to be <br />necessary to suspend eggs during incubation. Surprisingly, yoy <br />striped bass were found near Glen Canyon Dam in numbers equal to <br />the uplake abundance of yoy. striped bass yoy less than one <br />month old were not able to be transported over 300 km in the <br /> <br />2 <br />