Colorado Parks and Wildlife, in conjunction with Denver Water, implemented a fish-salvage operation at Antero Reservoir. Fish were captured in the Antero Dam Spillway and were transferred and released at Eleven Mile Reservoir and the South Fork South Platte River.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife aquatic biologists, in conjunction with Denver Water staff, salvaged more than 1,000 trout from Antero Reservoir on Friday and stocked into nearby waterbodies. 981 rainbow, brown, cutthroat and other hybrid trout species were captured by electrofishing and relocated to Eleven Mile Reservoir. The remaining fish were released into the South Fork South Platte River. Eleven Mile was chosen to keep the fish in the South Platte River basin, as well as its positive status for the aquatic nuisance species New Zealand mudsnails.
The effort follows the public salvage enacted in April after Denver Water announced the drawdown of the reservoir due to drought conditions. During and after the public salvage concluded, fish were still able to freely move from Antero into the South Fork and downstream to Spinney Mountain Reservoir.
CPW remains committed to the fishery and angling opportunities at Antero. Stocking operations will resume once the reservoir is refilled.
Written by Kara Van Hoose. Kara is the Northeast Region Public Information Officer for Colorado Parks and Wildlife. Video by Jerry Neal/CPW. Photos by Ryan Jones/CPW.
One Response
Well done! Well done! Kudos to all who helped save these valuable fish! Those are some of the most gorgeous trout I’ve ever seen. Keep up the good work everybody.