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DISCUSSION <br />Outlet Stilling Basin <br />In 2002 and 2004, brown trout were captured in quite similar numbers during both <br />drainings (2002: 120 initial/114 evaluation; 2004: 293 initial/349 evaluation). Given that brown <br />trout numbers remained high and that their population is considered stable within the Strawberry <br />River drainage, the most likely explanation is that most are moving into the outlet basin from the <br />river where they are established (though some probably do escape from the reservoir). Influx <br />from the river is especially likely given that no weir was set up between the outlet basin and the <br />river. <br />Largemouth bass were captured in the outlet basin in 2004, though they are rarely <br />encountered in either the reservoir itself or the river downstream of the reservoir (Utah Division <br />of Wildlife Resources 2003). Also beginning in 2004, crews began catching yellow perch in <br />relatively high numbers. Perch were introduced into the reservoir prior to 2002 and are now <br />established in the reservoir. While it is unlikely that walleye, smallmouth bass, and yellow perch <br />are moving from the river into the outlet basin (these species were not found in the river during <br />electrofishing surveys), it is possible that these species escape from the outlet and continue <br />downstream into the Duchesne River. If this were occurring, escapement rates (based on the data <br />collected during this study) through the outlet would be underestimated. Additionally, <br />escapement of the target species may be underestimated as a result of our inability to <br />characterize predation by brown trout in the outlet basin. Given these uncertainties, it was <br />virtually impossible to get a definitive rate of escapement through the outlet works. <br />The outlet drain (capacity = 2,400 cfs) is 117 feet below the reservoir surface when the <br />reservoir is full (5,712 feet elevation). Reservoir operation records from the Central Utah Water <br />14 <br />