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4 <br />1970) was concerned primarily with the Gunnison River sections above <br />Cimarron prior to inundation, but also collected some data in the lower <br />river from Delta to slightly above the North Fork in the 1964-1967 period. <br />Blue Mesa Reservoir, the uppermost of the three reservoirs of the Cure- <br />canti Unit, first attained maximum capacity in 1970 when it became <br />Colorado's largest impoundment with nearly 1 million acre-ft of water <br />covering 9,040 surface acres. Intensive fishery investigations were <br />conducted at Blue Mesa in the 1967-1972 period to characterize age, <br />growth, and survival of the various fishes stocked in the reservoir <br />(Wiltzius 1969; 1971; 1974). Annual saliiionid yields between 1968 and 1973 <br />for Blue Mesa were also estimated by Wiltzius (1974). <br />By 1971, it became apparent that the 38-50OF water being released <br />from the Curecanti reservoirs was influencing the downstream distribu- <br />tion of some fishes in the Gunnison River. Fishermen began reporting <br />better catches of trout below the dams and trout were more frequently <br />caught in areas where they were once rare. Interest and speculation <br />naturally occurred as to how far downstream a trout fishery would develop <br />and/or if detrimental effects would occur to any of the fishes living <br />below the reservoirs. As a result, a 5-yr study was begun in July 1973 <br />to determine some of the influences of these dams on the downstream <br />fishery. <br />Original project objectives included: learning about flow patterns, <br />temperatures, and chemical characteristics; inventorying the species <br />of fish and fish-food organisms; determining fish spawning habitats; <br />determining fisherman access points, fishing pressure, and species <br />harvest success; and lastly, determining fish stocking procedures for <br />Crystal Reservoir and the downstream fishery.