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77 Table 10. Evaluation of the harvest (numbers) and return of barge planted rainbow trout, Flaming Gorge Reservoir. 1981 1982 Total Percent Percent Percent Planting Method Harvest Harvest Harvest Returned Stocked in Harvest Shore 1,162 4,963 6,125 2.10 51 55.22 Barged 1,010 3,958 4,968 1.78 49 44.78 Eagle Lake rainbow trout were first planted in Flaming Gorge in 1976. Plants were also made in 1977, 1980, 1982, and 1983. However, only about 102,000 fish have been planted since 1976. Plants have varied from 33,000 fish in 1976 to 7,211 in 1982. Very few returns of Eagle Lake rainbow trout have been documented. Additional plants of Eagle Lake rainbow trout (Table 1) were made in Flume Creek and Bone Draw. Flume Creek enters the Green River approxi- mately 0.5 miles below Fontenelle Dam. Bone Draw is a small spring creek which is a tributary to the Big Sandy River which flows into the Green River. Neither creek is capable of sustaining significant natural reproduction. However, if a run of Eagle Lake rainbow were established in either creek, adults could be easily trapped for spawning. McConaughy rainbow trout were first planted in the Inflow Area in 1982 (Table 2). In 1983, almost the entire plant of rainbow trout consisted of the McConaughy strain. All McConaughy rainbow trout have been left pelvic fin- clipped and stocked at an average size of 8.4 inches. Additional plants of McConaughy rainbow trout were made in-Flume Creek and Bone Draw during 1981 and 1982 (Table 1) in hopes of-starting spawning runs into these waters for future sources of wild McConaughy rainbow eggs. Despite a three year stocking program (1978-1980) of two strains of cutthroat trout, harvest remained very low. The strains evaluated were the Snake River cutthroat trout and the Strawberry Reservoir cutthroat trout. Snake River cutthroat trout (small-spotted strain) were stocked in Flaming Gorge in 1978 and 1980 (Table 2). Strawberry cutthroat (large-spotted strain) were stocked in 1979 and 1980. Nearly equal numbers of the two strains were planted (47.9 percent Snake River cutthroat and 52.1 percent Strawberry Reservoir cutthroat). The cutthroat trout were to be planted in the spring as 5 inch advanced fingerlings (approximately 19.7 fish to the pond). As Tables 4, 5, and 6 show, 52.7 percent of the Snake River cutthroat stocked and 50.9 percent of the Strawberry cutthroat stocked were undersize. The average size of all Snake River cutthroat raised by Wyoming hatcheries and planted in Flaming Gorge was 105 fish per pound. This may have placed a significant bias on the cutthroat trout evaluation. Experimental plants of brown trout were made during 1980, 1981, and 1983 (Table 2). A total of 1.74 million brown trout were clipped for the investiga- tion. The study involved the survival, growth, return to the creel and movement of fall planted (adipose-marked) advanced fingerlings (5 inches) planted in 1980 and 1981 versus spring planted (left pelvic fin-clipped) catchable fish (8.4 inches) planted in 1981 and 1983. L? -16- a