resorts on Madison and Hebgen Reservoirs provide boats and dock facil- 

 ities. There are several ranches, mostly above Ennis, which take in 

 guests or have tourist 'cabins. The Forest Service maintains a number 

 of campgrounds in Madison Canyon and around Hebgen Reservoir, There 

 were 76 private summer homes on Hebgen Reservoir in 1952 , 



Eight species of fish were recorded from fishermen's creels 

 during the course of the study 5 these included; rainbow trout, brown 

 trout, brook trout, cutthroat trout, grayling, mountain whitefish, 

 suckers, and Utah chub. Brook trout and grayling were not recorded 

 from Hebgen Reservoir but were undoubtedly there. Only a few Utah 

 chubs were taken from the river, A number of apparent hybrid trout „ / 

 (rainbow x cutthroat s and in one instance an apparent rainbow - brown— ) 

 were noted during the course of the study. Because hybrids could not 

 always be ascertained accurately, and because the characteristics of 

 most apparent hybrids were predominantly rainbow, all apparent hybrids 

 were classified as rainbows for the purpose of this report,, 



As might be suspected the species composition of the Madison 

 has not always been as indicated above. Prior to 1900, the associa- 

 tion apparently was one of whitefish, grayling, a few cutthroat trout, 

 and suckers. Commercial fishermen who operated around the turn of the 

 century indicated that Sj-pound, 20-inch whitefish were common then. 

 Grayling varied from 8 to 15 inches in length. 



The first introductions of fish into the Madison were of 

 steelhead trout-shortly after 1900, Brown trout were first introduced 

 about 1910 and have increased in numbers each year since then. Gray- 

 ling and whitefish populations seemed to decline as brown trout in- 

 creased. Most of the grayling population was gone by 1920, but white- 

 fish continued to persist in fair numbers. Suckers and brown trout 

 were gradually replacing the grayling-=whitefish association until 

 rainbow and brook trout were introduced around 1920 1 rainbows have 

 since become the dominant species, 



Hebgen Reservoir was heavily stocked with rainbow and brown 

 trout upon its completion in 1915. These two species dominated the 

 Hebgen fishery in about three years, replacing the whitefish=grayling 

 association which persisted until that time» 



The Utah chub, foreign to the Missouri River drainage and 

 considered a nuisance by most fishermen, was first taken in Hebgen 

 Reservoir ii^ the mid-30 ! s„ It was probably introduced by live-bait 

 fishermen. Apparently it has steadily increased in numbers since 

 its introduction. Gill -net studies in 19U8 and 19u9 (Hays 1950) 



2/ Apparent rainbow x brown specimen^ in collection of Montana State 

 College, Bozeman, Montana, 



10 



