INTRODUCTION 



Hebgen Reservoir provides a popular sport fishery in Southwest Montana, ranking IS'*' in 

 angHng pressure exerted statewide in 2001 (Fig. 1, McFarland and Meredith 2002). 

 Hebgen Dam was completed and the reserxoir was filled in 1915. At full pool elevation 

 of 6.534 feet the reservoir covers 12,668 surface acres. Wild, self-sustaining brown trout 

 (Salmo trutta) and rainbow trout (Oncorhyncus mykiss) are the current mainstays of the 

 fishery, with supplementation by annual plants of approximately 100,000 young-of-the- 

 year (fn) Eagle Lake strain rainbow trout. Native mountain whitefish (Prosopium 

 williamsoni) also provide a component of the fishen,'. Utah chub (Gila atraria), illegally 

 introduced circa 1935, predominate the biomass offish in Hebgen Reser\'oir (Leik 1978, 

 Byorth and Weiss 2002). 



Figure 1 . Map of Hebgen Reservoir, MT. The line across the reservoir represents the 

 delineation between the North and South halves for the June 2000 to June 2001 creel 

 sur\ey. 



