Monitoring of Migratory Bull Trout in the Jarbidge River, 1999

Downstream movements of fish in the East Fork and West Fork Jarbidge Rivers were monitored from early September to the end of November 1999 with fish weirs and box traps. Five bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) were captured in both traps, three in the West Fork and two in the East Fork. This was an increase from 1997 when only one bull trout was captured. The 1999 bull trout ranged in length from 250 to 355 mm. Other species sampled included rainbow/redband trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), mountain whitefish (Prosopium williamsoni), bridgelip sucker (Catostomus columbianus), shorthead sculpin (Cottus confusus), longnose dace (Rhinichthys cataractae), and speckled dace (R. osculus).

Nearly ten times as many mountain whitefish were sampled in the East Fork (755) as in the West Fork (78). Numbers of other species were similar in the East and West Forks. Rainbow trout and mountain whitefish in the East Fork were captured in greater numbers later in the season while dace were trapped in early September.