STUDY NUMBER ; 2.9 



ORGANIZATION : Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks 

 ( MDFWP ) 



TITLE OF STUDY ; Fisheries Studies on Noxon Rapids and Cabinet 

 Gorge Reservoirs 



CONTACT ( S ) ; Jim Vashro - Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife 

 . and Parks, Kalispell - 755-5505 



Joe Huston - Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife 

 and Parks, Kalispell - 755-5505 



OBJECTIVE ; Evaluate the suitability of the reservoirs to support 

 various species of game fish; document their distribution, abun- 

 dance and reproductive success; develop and implement management 

 programs to establish and enhance game fish populations. 



DURATION : 1952 - Indefinite 



CURRENT STATUS ; Since the elimination of the free-flowing lower 

 Clark Fork by dams in the 1950 's, the Montana Department of Fish, 

 Wildlife and Parks has continuously attempted to establish a 

 sport fishery in the reservoirs. Several different fish species 

 have been planted. The success (or mainly lack of success) of 

 these plantings has been monitored within the reservoirs by gill 

 net and creel census surveys. Several tributaries have been 

 studied to estimate their value as sources of recruitment to 

 the reservoirs. 



Washington Water Power (WWP) , which owns and operates Noxon 

 and Cabinet Gorge dams, implemented a new reservoir operation 

 plan in July, 1986. Past management called for drafting Noxon 

 Rapids Reservoir up to 36 feet in the spring for flood control. 

 The new management plan will call for limits on daily, seasonal 

 and annual drawdowns that should benefit the reservoir fisheries. 



FUTURE ACTIVITIES ; Diversified fish plantings and monitoring 

 will continue. Burbot (ling), brown trout, smallmouth bass and 

 possibly Kamloops rainbow trout and bull trout will be planted. 

 MDFWP is in the third year of a three-year program funded by 

 Washington Water Power to establish fishable populations of brown 

 trout and burbot (ling) in Noxon and Cabinet Gorge reservoirs. 



MDFWP will be providing supervision for a two-year baseline 

 fisheries study by WWP to evaluate the effects of a new reservoir 

 management plan to minimize water level fluctuations in Noxon 

 and Cabinet Gorge reservoirs. 



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