Water temperatures were recorded at 8:00 a irio each day cer- 

 tain check areas were under observation,. Figure 7 was prepared for 

 three areas, one in each year, to show the general correlation between 

 these morning water temperatures I4/ and rate of catch* There was a 

 similarity of correlation in the three seasons. In general, there 

 was an increase in the rate of catch at the beginning of the season 

 as morning water temperatures increased until these reached about 

 50° F, From then until mid-August when maximum temperatures of be- 

 tween 60° and 70° were reached, the average rate of catch decreased 

 slightly. With the subsequent decline in water temperatures the rate 

 of catch again increased. Generally a higher rate was reached in the 

 fall than in the spring, even though fall water temperatures approached 

 those at the start of the fishing season. 



The average time individuals spent fishing the river varied 

 from 3,2 to 5,8 hours. The maximum time was spent in Upper Bear Trap 

 Canyon, the most difficult area to reach. The minimum time was spent 

 in Madison Canyon which was adjacent to the highway aid received a 

 high percentage of nonresident use. Local or resident fishermen spent, 

 on the average, 0,5 hours more per fishing day than the nonresident. 

 In the Lower Section, where 9b percent of the fishermen were residents, 

 the number of hours varied from b,5 to 5,8 hours. In the Middle Sec- 

 tion with 78 percent resident fishermen, the average time ranged from 

 3 8 to 5<>0 hours. In the Upper Section where 55 percent of the fisher- 

 men were nonresidents, the average time was between 3,2 and 3,8 hours. 

 Considerable variation was found in the average daily time spent fish- 

 ing in Madison and Hebgen Reservoirs, Five and one-half hours for 

 Madison Reservoir as compared to 3,2 hours for Hebgen Reservoir again 

 points up the lesser time spent by nonresidents (9b percent residents 

 on Madison and 55 percent nonresidents on Hebgen), 



The time of day that fishing was done presented an interest- 

 ing pattern and seems to be correlated with residence of the fishermen. 

 Most of the fishing activity occurred in the early evening in the Lower 

 and Middle Sections where the largest percentage of fishermen were 

 residents, On the other hand, greatest fishing activity was in mid- 

 afternoon in the Upper Section, It was noted that nonresidents seldom 

 fished in the early morning or evening 5 thus, with 55 percent of the 

 pressure in the upper Section by nonresidents, the pattern of use shifted 

 to midafternoon. 



Rainbow and brown trout (Figure 8) were taken throughout the 

 river and in both reservoirs more frequently than any ether fish e 

 Eighty-seven and one-half percent of all fish taken were of these 2 

 species, Whitefish (6,6 percent) and suckers (U,5 percent) were the 



b/ Late afternoon temperatures were generally 10 to 15° higher than 

 morning temperatures. 



23 



