ISFAPPC04246

• Case Number: 00CW0101
• Stream Name: Fourmile Creek
• Watershed: Fourmile Creek
• Water Division: 2
• Water District: 12
• County: Fremont
• Instream Flow App - Doc Type: Supplemental Data

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9

downstream of Cripple Creek and Fourmile Creek downstream of the Carlton Tunnel.
Numbers of longnose dace then increased at the Lion's Restoration site, In general, fewer
dace were collected--in 1995 compared to 1994,

Caution must be exercised when discussing longnose dace numbers. Entire age
classes of dace are less than 150 mm in length (Figures 15-21). Electrofishing is not a
particularly effective method of estimating population numbers for this species. Length
frequency distributions can be used to detennine if all expected age classes were present
and relative numbers between sites. Length frequency distributions demonstrated that
three age classes of dace were found at all sites, Presence of all age classes at all sites
was an indication the electrofishing gear worked equally well at all sampling locations,
Electrofishing techniques did not bias results regarding relative abundance of long nose
dace, Evidently, fewer long nose dace of all age classes were collectd in 1995 compared
to 1994, '

The white sucker is a long-lived species, Five age classes of white suckers were
collected from Fourmile Creek, but each age class was not present at every station
(Figures 22-28). The number of white suckers per acre in 1995 did not change as the
stream flowed downstream, except that the species was not collected in Founnile Creek
downstream of the Carlton Tunnel (Table 12), In 1994 white suckers were collected in
Fourmile Creek downstream of the Carlton Tunnel. Length frequency analyses
demonstrated that smaller, first-year fish are more abundant at the most downstream
sampling site at Lion's Restoration while older age classes were more abundant at the
higher-elevation stations,

Low numbers of creek chubs (Semofi/us afromacu/afus), fathead minnows
(Pimepha/es prome/as) and long nose suckers (Cafosfomus cafosfomus) were collected
at the Lion's Restoration site. The age class structure of the creek chub population
changed from 1994 to 1995. In 1994, most creek chubs were two to three years old
(greater than 70 mm in length). In 1995, the number of creek chubs tripled. However, all
but one was one-year-old. The older age classes had disappeared (Figures 29 and 30).
Creek chubs did not appear to successfully reproduce at the Lion's Restoration site
annually. In 1994. two creek chubs were collected in Fourmile Creek downstream of the
Carlton Tunnel. This species disappeared from Founnile Creek downstream of the Carlton
Tunnel in 1995,

3.3.2 Species Compostion and Distibution in crfpple Creek
Cripple Creek was sampled for fish at the sampling site just upstream of Fourmile
Creek, No fish were found in Cripple Creek. Cripple Creek stet upstream and downstream
of Ariqua Gulch was too small and shallow to support a fish community,

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