Preferred Managftinfint Optioni 



Management options considered included maintaining current stocking rates and management, 

 chemical rehab, and converting the lake to a trophy or large lake trout management lake through 

 regulations. Bootjack received 50 comments. 



Under the preferred management option. Bootjack Lake would be rehabilitated as funding 

 becomes available and rainbow and/or cutthroat or brook trout would be reintroduced at historic 

 levels. Through monitoring and adaptive management, the opportunity to manage the lake as 

 trophy lake would be assessed after the rehabilitation. 



TOPLESS LAKE 

 Lake Description! 



Topless Lake is a small closed-basin lake east of Horseshoe Lake and south of Bootjack Lake. 

 It has a maximum depth of 24 feet and has a surface area of approximately 9 acres. Between 

 March 1, 1993 and February 28, 1994, FWP estimated tfiat as many as 121 anglers of which 100 

 percent were Montana residents, fished at Topless Lake (Montana Statewide Angling Pressure 

 Report). 



Tjike Management Status; 



Management of Topless Lake commaiced in 1969 when initial gill-net surveys produced no fish. 

 FWP decided Topless Lake represented an opportunity to support a limited number of anglers and 

 planted 10,545 cutthroat trout (Table 13). Since that time, FWP has managed the lake to receive 

 2,0(X) to 3,000 trout (species depended on availability) on a two-year rotating basis to maximize 

 growth rates. 



Between 1969 and 1983, illegal introductions established populations of black bullheads and 

 pumpkinseeds in Topless Lake. Crayfish, which were not common to TCL have also been found 

 in relatively high numbers and are likely the result of unauthorized stocking. Gillnetting in 1992 

 produced only one rainbow trout and high numbers of pumpkinseeds (17.5 per net) and black 

 bullheads (5.0 per net). 



Managfment Concerns: 



1. High numbers of pumpkinseeds and black bullheads make successfiil stocking of rainbow 

 or cutthroat trout difficult due to competition and predation. 



2. Topless Lake is known to winter kill occasionally. 



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