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<br />Stizostedion vitreum. <br /> <br />From 2005 through 2007, during periods of low stream discharge in July and August, <br />we focused on removing young (age-O and age-1) smallmouth bass from the lower 12- <br />mile section of the Little Yampa Canyon study site (Le. the original treatment reach <br />designated in 2004; Table 2). Fish removal from this reach maintained consistency with <br />the control-treatment design of the native fish evaluation study (Bestgen et al. 2007). <br />The reach was accessed by canoe or truck and fish were captured with a 10m-long <br />electric seine powered by a 2000-watt generator. We sampled primarily shallow, low- <br />velocity shorelines associated with backwaters, embayments, or boulders deposited <br />from talus slopes. Electrofishing time of each sample was recorded with a stop watch. <br /> <br />Fish handling- Fish captured with boat electrofishing were placed in a live well, <br />measured to the nearest mm TL, and weighed to the nearest 50 gr with 5- or 10-kg, <br />Pesola@ spring scale. Fish captured with electric seine were weighed to the nearest 0.1 <br />gr with an electronic scale. We examined all fish for tags, fin clips, pike bites, gametes, <br />and wear along the ventral medial fins indicating nest cleaning. Smallmouth bass were <br />tagged at the start of each year so that recaptured fish could be used to determine <br />abundance, monitor movement, and monitor potential escapement from translocated <br />waters. In 2003 we tagged smallmouth bass larger than 100 mm and in later years we <br />tagged bass larger than 150 mm. Beginning in 2005 during removal from the treatment <br />reaches, small mouth bass < 250 mm were euthanized with an overdose of Tricaine <br />methanesulfonate (MS-222) and bass ~ 250-mm TL were translocated (Table 1). In <br />prior years, bass were not euthanized and all sizes were translocated from treatment <br />reaches. If not previously tagged, smallmouth bass were tagged with a numbered, blue <br />or yellow, Floy@ t-bar anchor tag (model FD-94) inserted through the left musculature <br />between pterygiophores near the posterior base of the dorsal fin. Fish held for <br />transport off site were maintained in a recirculating live well (150-gallon poly stock tank) <br />with compressed oxygen. Smallmouth bass that were translocated were Floy tagged <br />and placed in an oxygenated live well and transported to either Elkhead Reservoir or <br /> <br />6 <br />