A total of 888 pounds of Pro-noxfish, 

 worth $555, was used. Twenty-five men of the 

 Fish and Wildlife Service and National Park 

 Service participated in the pre -reclamation and 

 reclamation activities. Their 75 man-days of 

 work represented approximately $1,100 in sal- 

 aries. Camp equipment was furnished by the 

 park and the mess bill for 4 days amounted to 

 $177. Other expenses including salt blocks, 

 truck, jeep, and trail -dozer costs, and inci- 

 dentals were estimated at $200. The total cost 

 of the survey, trail -clearing, camp maintenance^ 

 and reclamation job on Abrams was $2, 032. 



Toxication mortality 



Toxic concentrations of rotenone were 

 maintained for more than 6 hours in a long 

 bolt moving downstream. Water temperatures 

 were favorable and ranged from 66° at the falls 

 to 71° F. at the mouth. Test fishes including 

 hogsuckers, carp, shiners, and rock bass in 

 livecars at Abrams Campground were killed 

 before the toxicant cleared the station . None 

 but dead carp, suckers, lamprey, and other 

 species were observed in the stream on June 9 

 and 10. 



Forty-six species of fish were picked up 

 in Abrams and tributaries during the reclama- 

 tion (table 4). They included 16 species which 

 had not been recorded previously in the park . 

 The public was permitted to gather dead fish 

 and several checking stations were manned to 

 list the species, numbers, and sizes taken. 

 Additional specimens which were representative 

 of species in the stream were collected by biol- 

 ogists. The number of fish checked was 3,233 

 and the total weight was 977 pounds . Of these 

 2,237 were food and game fish and their total 

 weight was 808 pounds . 



The numbers recorded for the various 

 species in no way represent their relative abund- 

 ance since the pick up was very selective in 

 respect to species and to size of the fish. Some 

 persons sought only large trout, others collected 

 only trout and smallmouth bass, and most of 

 them ignored all fish which they considered too 

 small to be included in the possession limit. 

 The timing of the reclamation discouraged 

 greater public participation in gathering fish . 



The rotenone passed through the only accessible 

 sections of the stream during the night . Since 

 the ni^t was stormy and wading was dangerous, 

 many would-be collectors visited the scene but 

 passed up the opportunity to pick up fish . 



Most of the 448 rainbow trout checked 

 were taken between the falls and Abrams Camp- 

 ground. They ranged from 1.7 to 14.8 inches 

 long and the degree of selectivity exercised by 

 collectors was illustrated by the fact that 84 

 percent of the fish were over 7 inches long 

 (table 5). Young-of-the-year trout ranged from 

 1 .7 to 3 .2 inches long and including them, there 

 were 6 year classes represented in the collec- 

 tions . 



An examination of scales from 209 trout 

 showed that the majority of age I fish were 7.0 

 to 7.9 inches long. The majorities of age II and 

 age III trout were 9.0 to 9.9 and 10.0 to 11.9 

 inches long respectively. A comparison of the 

 Indian Creek and Abrams Creek rainbow trout 

 per age group indicated that fish in the latter 

 stream averaged approximately 2 inches longer . 

 Only a fraction of this difference can be attributed 

 to growth achieved in the 5 weeks between recla- 

 mation jobs. Most of it is due to the better 

 conditions for growth in Abrams Creek. 



The second most important game fish in 

 lower Abrams was the smallmouth bass. The 

 475 specimens picked up between the falls and 

 the mouth ranged from 1.2 to 18.5 inches in 

 length and from to 8 years in age (table 6) . 

 Their rate of growth was relatively slow, as 

 indicated by an examination of scales from 76 

 specimens. Twenty-four, age FV fish ranged 

 from 6.5 to 10.6 inches and averaged 9.2 inches 

 long. Twenty-two, age V fish ranged from 7.8 

 to 15.3 inches and averaged 10.6 inches long. 



Rock bass were abundant from the falls 

 downstream . They were perhaps the principal 

 competitor of the rainbow trout and smallmouth 

 bass. These species however, is not considered 

 a valuable game fish in the vicinity of the park . 

 Of the 725 specimens gathered during the recla- 

 mation, 676 were measured (table 7). They 

 ranged from 2.1 to 11.5 inches and averaged 6.4 

 inches long. Twenty 5.9 to 9.7 inch fish ranged 

 from 3 to 8 years in age . 



14 



