Brown trout tagging

[Quillback]

Beaver Tailwater Brown Trout Tagging 

From 2020 to 2024, the Trout Management Program tagged 1,104 Brown Trout in Beaver Tailwater with Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) tags. When we recapture tagged Brown Trout during sampling events, we scan them for tags and record GPS locations. The map below shows the locations of the 99 Brown Trout we recaptured from electrofishing during the study. Bright red represents higher numbers of recaptures, and dark blue represents lower numbers of recaptures.

Even though we sampled downstream of the Highway 62 Bridge, we did not recapture any tagged Brown Trout below Spider Island. Although our annual population samples typically show higher catch rates of Brown Trout from the Dam to Campground C than other parts of the river, we recaptured most tagged fish between the Parker Bend and Bertrand accesses.

Ultimately, we will use data from this tagging project to evaluate the success of our current fishing regulations on Beaver Tailwater.