7037

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 7037
• Author: Wyoming Game and Fish Department
• Title: Fishery Research Report
• USFW Year: 1978.
• USFW - Doc Type: Flaming Gorge Reservoir.
• Copyright Material: NO

km (24 miles) in length and is characterized by deep, seasonally
stratified water and sheer canyon walls. Mean depth in this area was
60 meters (200 feet). The area is little affected by wind action.
The open hills area is 48.2 km (30 miles) long. The area is
characterized by large expanses of open water and an expansive littoral
zone. Permanent benthic stagnation does not generally occur because
waters are effectively mixed through wind action. Mean depth was
25.5 in (85 feet).
The inflow area is that portion of the reservoir which is greatly
influenced by the Green and Blacks Fork rivers. Generally, this area
was described as the northern 32.3 km (20 miles) of the lake. Mean
depth was 15 in (50 feet). The area is greatly influenced by prevailing
winds and by turbidity from the inlet streams.
Eiserman and Stone (in press) have provided a detailed
description of the reservoir and have discussed background information
relative to the fishery.
METHODS
Stomach samples were taken from trout captured in experimental
and vertical gillnets. Experimental nets (38.1 in x 1.8 in with five
7.6 in panels of 20, 25, 38, 46, and 51 mm standard mesh) were set in
littoral waters in April, August, and November each year. Vertical
nets (61 in x 2.7 in with standard mesh sizes of 20, 25, 38, 51, and
64 mm) were set in May, August, and October to collect trout from the
pelagic environment.
From 1963 through 1967, 20 stomach samples per netting period
(180 per year) were taken from littoral habitat in each area. In 1967,
the number of samples was increased to 40 per netting period (360
per year).
Vertical nets were set in the canyon and open areas beginning in
1966. Nets were set to a depth of 30.5 in (100 feet). No nets were set
in the inflow area because of shallow depth. Thirty stomach samples
per netting period were collected in pelagic waters although the
number of stomachs collected from year to year varied.
Brown and cutthorat trout were first stocked in substantial numbers
in 1967. Stomach samples were collected from these species beginning
in 1968.
Discussions by Brown (1958) and Bennett (1962) indicate that
stomach samples from fish captured in gillnets may introduce some
error in results depending upon the length of time fish are in the nets.
Our nets were generally set overnight during the study. It was assumed
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