8099 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Wyoming Game and Fish records indicate that wild brown trout have been the dominant trout species in Sand Creek since the early 1950's, although no records of when they were frrst introduced exist. Rainbow in Sand Creek on Ranch A were never intentionally planted. The small population present is thought to have originated as escapees from the Fish Genetics Lab when it was in operation. Natural reproduction by rainbow is thought to be very limited. Longnose suckers are also common. Sand Creek below Ranch A has been open to public fishing on state and leased private lands, as well as restrictive (members only) fishing on the Sand Creek Country Club adjacent to Ranch A. Prior to 1985, no fishing has been permitted on Ranch A. Beginning in 1985, the Fish and Wildlife Service agreed to allow public fishing within a limited season (May through August) and restrictive angling (use of flies and lures only). The creel limit is the same as the rest of Sand Creek: 12 trout/day or in possession, only one of which can exceed 20 inches. ME11IODS Two stations were established on Ranch A to evaluate trout population densities. The most downstream station, Station 1, is 293 feet long and an average of 18.9 feet wide (0.127 acres) and is located below all the spring sources, just inside the lower (north) boundary of Ranch A. Station 2, located approximately 0.8 miles upstream from Station 1 and just inside the upper boundary of the section open to fishing, is 230 feet long with an average width of 13.7 feet (0.072 acres). Fish were collected by electrofishing. Population estimates were made at Stations 1 and 2 initially on November 5, 1984, and then before and after the fishing season on April 30 and November 11, 1985, respectively. The SeberlLeCren two-pass formula, 'as described by Armour et al. (1983)~ was used to make estimates of trout population densities and standing crops: C12 N = ------ C1 - C2 Where C 1 = Number of fish collected on the first run C2 = Number of fish collected on the second run S.E. (N) = C1C2 ------------- X \1(C1 + C2) (CI - C2)2 A programmed, stratified creel census was conducted on the 1.06 mile section of Sand Creek open to fishing on Ranch A. Eight days per month were randomly selected to count and interview fishermen from May through August 1985. For purposes of comparing the population and the creel survey data for the same area (1.06 miles and 1.975 acres open to fishing), population estimates from Station 1 and 2 were combined by 7