were excavated from redds in a small reach of inlet near the lake 

 and in a small meadow 120 feet in distance and at an elevation of 

 80 feet above Golden Trout Lake. No juveniles were found. In 

 spite of the eggs upstream, the inlet appeared to have much too 

 much gradient for fish passage. No fish were found in the up- 

 stream ponds. Unauthorized transplants may occur occasionally in 

 this aiea. The outlet appeared the primary spawning site; juve- 

 niles were common in pools and aggregated around the outlet-lake 

 margin. 



Of all lakes sampled, Blue Danube appeared to have the 

 lowest population density. Only one fish was captured, none were 

 observed and two outfitters complained of no fish. Marcoux 

 (pers. comm.) surveyed Blue Danube in 1975 and found a good 

 population ranging from 6.5 to 18 inches. Previous spawning 

 success was restricted to the outlet which when observed in 1981 

 provided little flow and a silted substrate. No fish were 

 observed downstream or in a meadow lake 1/4 mile down drainage. 



A total of 488 golden trout were collected in 2 1/2 days for 

 obtaining 79,811 eggs in early July 1981 at Sylvan Lake. The 

 female parents of the eggs averaged 10.5 inches; males were 10.0 

 inches. Two gill nets pulled September 1, 1981 produced 40 fish, 

 averaging 9.0 inches, .32 pounds. This ]ake consistently pro- 

 duced numerous fish, most less than 13 inches in length. 



Appearance and Coloration 



The lack of homogenous coloration, spotting and overall 

 appearance of various golden trout populations and even individ- 

 ual fish within a population led scientists to classification 

 disagreements. From early on, golden trout were classified Sal mo 

 iridius (Henshaw 1875), S^ m ykiss aquabonita (Jordan and Henshaw 

 1878), ^ whitei (Marcuson 1980) and £^ gilberti (Vore 1928). 

 The two latest studies, Schreck and Behnke (1971) and Gold and 

 Gall (1980), concur on the present acceptable subspecies S^ 

 aquabonita aquabonita. The other subspecies, S^. Su. ailbfixti, 

 still has some confusion regarding classonomic integrity. 



Golden trout in Montana all have their roots from Sj. Sj. 

 aquabonita in Cottonwood lakes, California; however, two distinct 

 appearing types of goldens were apparent. Those fish with a 

 lineage via "Surprise Lake," Wyoming stocked between 1960 and 

 1977 had an appearance and coloration different from those which 

 were direct plants from Cottonwood lakes. The latter group was 

 termed "typical" (Table 3). 



The "typical" golden trout described by Evermann (1905) and 

 McAfee (1966) had the following coloration and spotting charac- 

 teristics : 



1. Colorstjon - Bright, cherry-red belly from throat to 

 anal fin; predominately deep olive-green back; metallic, lemon- 

 yellow sides; rosy lateral band; one series of 10-12 large, 



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