Sportfishing Notes Meadow Creek Reservoir offers

an opportunity to hone your skills in

a beautiful setting at the base of the

Indian Peaks Wilderness Area. Dur-

ing summer mornings and evenings

the lake becomes very active with

surface-feeding brook trout. Most of

the fish are small, but there are

plenty of them. Casting a dry fly

from a float tube or canoe can be

productive during these times. Be-

cause the brook trout population is

so prolific it is also somewhat

stunted (see following page). CPW

has stocked tiger trout twice to serve

as a predator to reduce the density of

these stunted brook trout and pro-

duce a higher-quality fishery. There

is currently no special regulation on

the harvest of tiger trout, but we

would prefer for anglers to release

these fish so that they can fulfill that

function and grow to trophy sizes. If

it appears that a large amount of har-

vest of tiger trout is occurring, we

may consider a more restrictive

regulation on this species in the fu-

ture.

Regulations

Standard harvest regulations

for trout (4 fish daily bag/8

fish in possession) . Anglers

are encouraged to take ad-

vantage of the additional

bag limit for small brook

trout, which allows for an

additional limit of 10 fish, 8

inches or less in length.

Meadow Creek Reservoir

FISH SURVEY AND MANAGEMENT REPORT

Jon Ewert - Aquatic Biologist (Hot Sulphur Springs)

Amenities and General Info

There are several primitive

campsites in the vicinity of

Meadow Creek Reservoir.

These are undeveloped in

nature. Running water is

not available. There is a

single pit toilet.

Previous Stocking

2017

Species Size Number

Rainbow 10” 3,722

2016

Species Size Number

Rainbow 10” 3,000

Tiger trout 3.8” 3,000

2015

Species Size Number

Rainbow 10” 3,400

General Information: Meadow Creek Reservoir is a small (104 acres) impoundment at an elevation of

9,947 feet approximately ten miles east of Tabernash, CO. The reservoir provides municipal water supply to

Front Range cities, and is connected to the Moffat Tunnel Collection system operated by the Denver Water

Board.

Recreational Management: Arapaho National Recreation Area, Arapaho National Forest. The Forest Ser-

vice charges a use fee for recreation on this water body. There is a permit kiosk on the road immediately be-

low the reservoir. By Forest Service regulation, motorized boating is not allowed.

2014

Species Size Number

Rainbow 10” 5,000

Tiger trout 3.7” 2,000

Meadow Creek Reservoir Jon Ewert - aquatic biologist

We set four 150’ gillnets overnight (locations at left) on

four occasions since 2011 to assess the fish population in

Meadow Creek Reservoir.

This lake has hosted an overabundance of stunted brook

trout for many years. CPW has stocked tiger trout on two

occasions (2014 and 2016) to attempt to improve the qual-

ity of the fishery. Tiger trout are a sterile hybrid of brown

trout and brook trout, and become highly predatory at large

sizes. They are an ideal fish for this situation because they

do not reproduce. Therefore, they pose no risk of overpopu-

lating and outstripping their prey base. As tiger trout begin

preying on the brook trout, they will grow to sizes larger

than the brook trout do, and the brook trout themselves

should exhibit higher quality due to reduced competition

for limited food.

CPW stocks catchable rainbow trout in this reservoir

(see previous page), however in the case of all four of these

surveys stocking took place after the survey. Therefore, any

rainbow trout appearing in the surveys would have been

stocked the previous year. The low catch rates of these fish

suggest that there is either poor overwinter survival, or har-

vest by public anglers consumes most or all of the annual

catchable stocking. This is acceptable, because the catch-

able rainbows are not the principal management focus of

the fishery in this lake, and we do not necessarily have any

expectation that they will survive over multiple years.

Date of Survey 7/6

2011

7/7

2015

6/29

2016

6/18

2017

Brook Trout 100% 86% 85% 64%

Rainbow Trout 1 2

Tiger Trout 13 13 36

Gillnet locations

Species composition of gillnet catch by percent

The largest tiger trout from 2017, 17.6”, 1.8 lbs.

A typical stunted brook trout from the 2017 survey. Note the

large head and thin body.

Typical tiger trout coloration

This tiger trout, which

had died in the net,

had a stomach full of

flying ants.

Brook trout body condition by size

Brook trout size distribution The size distribution of brook trout and tiger trout cap-

tured in each of the four surveys is shown at right. There

are no tiger trout in the 2011 sample because the first time

they were stocked in the lake was 2014.

In all years, brook trout greater than 11” were rare or

nonexistent, and we have never captured a brook trout

measuring 12” or larger in this lake.

The first batch of tiger trout, which were stocked in

2014, averaged 3.7” when stocked. The 2015 gillnet sur-

vey revealed that they had survived, and their average

length after one year in the reservoir was 8.0”, with some

individuals nearly 10”.

In 2016, the 2014 tiger trout averaged 10.8”. This sug-

gested a slower growth rate (2.8” on average) than their

first year in the lake, but this is common among all trout

species. The largest individual captured in 2016 was

12.4”. We did not yet observe any evidence that the tiger

trout were preying on brook trout, but we did not expect to

see these fish become predatory until they were larger than

12”.

The 2017 survey was the first to document two year

classes of tiger trout in the lake — the ones stocked in

2014 and the second group stocked in 2016. For the first

time we observed small brook trout in the stomach of one

of the larger tiger trout, and we captured a 17” tiger trout

(pictured on previous page). This fish had clearly switched

to piscivory and had accomplished an exceptional growth

rate for a 3-year-old fish. This was also the largest fish of

any species that we have captured to date at Meadow

Creek Reservoir. The growth rate of the fish stocked in

2016 appeared very similar to the 2014 year class, averag-

ing 7-8” after one year in the lake.

The relationship of body condition (“plumpness”) and

size of the brook trout from all four years is displayed be-

low. The steep downward decline in body condition as fish

get larger is strongly indicative of stunting and lack of

adequate food for larger fish. One measure of success of

the tiger trout management strategy is if future surveys

reveal that these trend lines become level, or even reverse

their slope upward, indicating that the density of larger

fish is in better balance with the prey that is available for

them.