Colorado Parks and Wildlife will conduct an angler survey at Miramonte Reservoir at the Dan Noble State Wildlife Area from May 1 through the end of October.
CPW wants to hear from anglers regarding preferred species, quality versus quantity of fish, and harvest rates, to help guide future fishery management.
“We will have a clerk out at the reservoir doing this survey three days a week. They will be talking to anglers to get an idea about preference for the fishery and to also estimate harvest,” said CPW aquatic biologist Eric Gardunio. “By estimating the harvest rate, that will allow us to try to tailor our stocking strategies to better meet the preferences that we’re hearing from the angler survey.”
The creel survey will also generate information regarding fishing pressure and the time anglers spend on the water.
Recent survey work conducted by CPW revealed a healthy population of brown trout, cutbow trout and Snake River cutthroat trout. The majority of fish came in at 16 inches or longer with some as large as 25 inches.
“This is a very high quality fishery,” Gardunio said. “Right now, I would say the number of fish is lower than people are used to in the past, but the size of the fish is as good as it has been since I’ve been here.”
CPW is interested to see if anglers prefer larger catches with fewer bites throughout the day or if they would prefer a larger abundance of smaller fish.
“One of the biggest things I’d say we are looking at is the number of fish to stock,” Gardunio said. “Should we stock fewer fish and have bigger fish, or should we stock more fish and have a higher number of fish that are smaller? Are anglers primarily interested in harvest at this fishery, or are there more anglers interested in catch and release? We want angler desires to guide our management of this great resource”
Answers from the public will dictate how CPW stocks the reservoir in future years.
“Our biggest tool for managing this fishery is stocking,” Gardunio said. “The species we stock, and the density we stock those fish at, really drives the angler experience.”