CREEL SURVEY TO BE CONDUCTED AT VALLECITO RESERVOIR
In order to determine angler use and the number and species of fish being caught at Vallectio Reservoir, the Colorado Division of Wildlife will be conducting a creel survey through the summer.
The survey will start May 1 and continue through August 31. Vallecito Reservoir is located about 20 miles northeast of Durango in southwest Colorado.
Vallecito is a very productive fishery and is home to rainbow trout, kokanee salmon, northern pike, brown trout, and smallmouth bass. The kokanee population was damaged by ash run off after the Missionary Ridge fire in 2002, but is expected to show signs of recovery in 2007.
For the survey, a DOW employee will contact anglers, conduct a short interview about their day of fishing and record their catch for the day. The process will take about five minutes, said Jim White, aquatic biologist for the DOW in Durango. Surveys will be conducted on weekends and on random days of the week.
Data collected from one season will allow DOW aquatics staff to estimate angler use, total fish caught, and angler satisfaction at the reservoir.
The DOW is especially interested in determining the catch of northern pike and rainbow trout. Northern pike are predators and feed on the trout. There is some concern that trout numbers are declining because of pike predation. Late last fall the DOW stocked 13-inch rainbows to determine if these larger trout could better avoid predation by pike compared to the 10-inch trout that have traditionally been stocked in the spring of the year.
For more information about Division of Wildlife go to: http://wildlife.state.co.us.