Update on post-flood fish in the Big Thompson
Post-flood assessment of the fish in the Big Thompson The Colorado Division of Parks and Wildlife has completed an early assessment of the remaining fish populations in the Big Thompson River below Estes Park, with some encouraging results from the catch and release section between Watonia bridge upstream to Olympus Dam below Lake Estes. Further down though, the river’s short-term health is pretty murky and survey work has not been completed. With U.S. 34 reopening, the club should be able to see for ourselves what it’s now like from Drake east to Loveland. Expect to find some serious channelization and stream stabilization, and potential conflicts to come as decisions are made on restoration of the river, one of Colorado’s best known trout waters. Ben Swigle, this region’s aquatic biologist, described the division’s electroshock survey results on the Big Thompson at the Nov. 20 meeting of Rocky Mountain Flycasters in Fort Collins....