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C! DISCUSSION Fish Stocking Results of the barge planting study on Flaming Gorge show that there was no significant difference in returns of barge planted or shore dumped advanced fingerling rainbow trout. However, an earlier study by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department with fin-clipped trout revealed that barge planted fish survived and returned to the creel significantly better than shore dumped fish (Personal Communication, Peterson). Significant savings in mandays and money could be realized if the results of the dye-marked study are accurate. However, results of this study are suspect, because of problems associated with identifying dye- marked fish, the change in planting policy (advanced fingerlings to catchable size fish) initiated after the study was started, the change to wild strains of rainbow trout, and access for fish trucks. Until a follow-up study with tighter control of variables of barge planting versus shore planting can be completed, barge planting should continue, at least when water temperatures in the reser- voir are too warm or cold to directly dump fish in the reservoir without tem- pering. Also, fish should be barge planted in the Inflow Area to assure uniform distribution. The plants of Eagle Lake and McConaughY rainbow trout have been made in pre- paration for the rainbow trout strain evaluation being planned for Flaming Gorge. Plans have been made to test three strains of wild rainbow trout, which are piscivorous. These strains are the Eagle Lake, McConaughy, and Gerrard (Kamloops) rainbow trout. The planting strategy calls for all three strains to be planted in equal numbers for a period of three years. All fish will be planted at an average size of 4.3 per pound. Reservoir stocking will not be initiated until May I each year, the time of spring zooplankton blooms. A deci- sion on barge planting will have- to be made before the strain evaluation begins, so both the Utah and Wyoming crews will plant fish in the same manner. Each strain will receive a different fin-clip, and dye-marks will be used to identify age classes. The strain evaluation will require coordination between the mana- gement crews of Utah and Wyoming, as well as each state's hatchery system and the Jones Hole Federal Fish Hatchery. Creel surveys will be used to evaluate the performance of each strain of rainbow trout in the reservoir. Expansion of the kokanee population in Flaming Gorge should continue, uti- lizing eggs and fry from Flaming Gorge fish. Currently spawning populations from Sheep Creek and the Green River are being used. The eggs from these spawning operations are being hatched at the Flume Creek hatching facility below Fontenelle Dam on the Green River. Fry are then released from Flume Creek. Kokanee, if available in large numbers in the reservoir, could become a.very important forage species and contribute to the sport fish harvest. Disease cer- tification of the kokanee from Flaming Gorge should also be a high priority, so kokanee could be hatched and/or cultured in the hatchery system. Smallmouth bass fry and channel catfish should continue to be stocked in the Inflow Area. Transplanting smallmouth bass fry hatched in the Open Hills Area is the best stocking strategy to establish smallmouth in this area of the reser- voir. Smallmouth fry received from southern states are available too early in the year for optimum survival in Flaming Gorge. Naturally reproduced fry from the reservoir should be used until the bass establish themselves and natural -18- 1k