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2 In 1946, sportsmen apparently were getting concerned about the prob- able adverse influences that the construction in 1937 of Taylor Dam on the Taylor River above Almont may have had on the Gunnison River trout fishery. This reservoir was the storage reservoir for the Uncompahgre Valley Water users. Fortunately, studies of the fishes of the Gunnison River in these upper stretches had been made by Pratt (1937; 1938) prior to the construction of Taylor Park Reservoir, and Williams (1951) also conducted studies relating to some of the effects coldwater releases had on the quality of fishing in the Gunnison River. In 1956 Congress authorized the Colorado River Storage Project which eventually involved the construction of four major units, viz., Navajo, Flaming Gorge, Glen Canyon, and Curecanti. Some of the effects these units have had on the tail-water fishery below the dams have been recently summarized by Mullan et al. (1976). The Curecanti Unit on the Gunnison River is unique in that it is the only unit of the four with dams con- structed entirely in prime trout habitat. The Unit (Fig. 1) is composed of three dams with power plants and reservoirs along a 40-mi (64-km) stretch of the Gunnison River a short distance above the Gunnison National Monument. At times, impounded waters extend to North Beaver Creek, about 6 mi (9.7 km) below the town of Gunnison. The two upper dams, Blue Mesa and Morrow Point, were completed, respectively, in 1965 and 1968, while Crystal Dam began filling early in 1977. In the 1964-1967 period, preimpoundment investigations were conducted in some river sections above Delta, Colorado. Kinnear and Vincent (1967) conducted fishery investigations totally within the 12-mi (19.3-km) section below the Gunnison Tunnel but within the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Monument during 1965 and 1966. Wiltzius (1966; 1967;