PRICKLEY PEAR CREEK STUDY 



It is realized that the zeal of Montana's fishermen to see ever 

 increasing numbers of fish harvested from the state's waters is sim- 

 ilar to the zeal of ranchers throughout the state to crop from their 

 lands as large a yield of wheat, hay, or cattle as is possible. It is 

 realized too, however, that the ability of water to produce its crop of 

 fish is limited just as is the ability of land to produce its agricultural 

 crops. Little is known in Montana of the size of its fish populations, 

 of the yields that may be expected from its fish crops, or of the need 

 for "seeding" the streams with hatchery trout. Knowing these needs 

 for information to guide fisherj' management, the Fish and Game 

 Commission authorized a trout study on Prickley Pear Creek near 

 Wolf Creek, Montana, which study has been completed during the 

 present biennium. 



It has been of fundamental importance to Montana fishery man- 

 agers to learn that Prickley Pear Creek, considered a "fished-out" 

 stream by most anglers, actually contained a fine resident fish popu- 

 lation. During the fishing season for all three years the natural 

 increase in both numbers and weight of fish was either equal to or 

 greater than the catch by the fishermen so that the trout population 

 either increased in size during the fishing season or remained rela- 

 tively stable. 



During 1951 there were 2,516 anglers who fished the 15.5 miles of 

 stream embraced by the study section. These caught 2,335 pounds of 

 trout and whitefish, (151 pounds per mile) during the season. The 

 anglers averaged 0.71 fish per man-hour of fishing — 0.96 fish per hour 

 when flies were used as a lure and 0.46 fish per hour when some form 

 of bait was used. 



Marked fingerling, hatchery-reared rainbow trout were planted 

 in the stream in the fall and marked legal size, hatchery-reared rain- 

 bow trout were planted in the stream in the spring. 



Biologists, wearing waders for protection, send an electric current through 



the electrode to temporarily stun the fish population in a carefully measured 



census area of Prickley Pear Creek (right.) The Department owns and operates 



three electric shockers like the one shown at left. 



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