Photos by Doug Radunich Bobby Compton, a fisheries biologist for Wyoming Game & Fish Department, is checking how many fish were caught in the net during the fish sampling two weeks ago. Photos by Doug Radunich Bobby Compton, a fisheries biologist for Wyoming Game & Fish Department, is checking how many fish were caught in the net during the fish sampling two weeks ago.
Wyoming Game and Fish (WGFD) Department officials caught a large number of trout during their fish population estimate conducting along the North Platte River’s Pick Bridge section.
According to WGFD Fisheries Biologist Steve Gale, the total number of trout, both brown and rainbow, captured over three days of sampling was 600, with roughly 60 percent brown trout and 40 percent rainbow trout.
Researchers used nets and specialized electrical equipment to catch fish along the Pick Bridge section July 16, 17 and 19, in order to study fish habitat changes and how many or what kind of fish thrived along that portion of the river.
After the fish was weighed and measured, the tail fin was clipped in case it was caught again.
Gale said the largest brown trout captured was 23.2 inches and 4.5 pounds.
The largest rainbow trout captured was 21.4 inches and 2.9 pounds.
“In general the fish population within the Pick Bridge section looks comparable to the past Pick Bridge estimate in 2007,” he said. “The biggest difference between 2007 and 2013 was that there were numerous rainbow and brown trout around six inches.
The abundance of these smaller size trout is most likely a result from the good water years in 2010 and 2011.”
Reader Comments(0)