Grapevine Creek: Creating Gila Trout Angling Opportunities from Eyed Egg Stockings

Authors: Emily Keister, Zach Beard

Year: 2022

Abstract

Grapevine Creek is a tributary to Big Bug Creek in the Aqua Fria River watershed located in the Bradshaw Mountains near Mayer, Arizona. Gila Trout Oncorhynchus gilae were first stocked into Grapevine Creek by the Arizona Game and Fish Department in 2009 and persisted there until 2017, when the Goodwin Fire, which burned approximately 28,516 acres in the Bradshaw Mountains, eliminated the population. In an attempt to re-establish a Gila Trout population in Grapevine Creek, 19,000 eyed Gila Trout eggs were stocked into Grapevine Creek in April 2019. Visual surveys in May and August of that year indicated that the egg stocking was a success with 348 Gila Trout observed during a visual survey in May 2020. Additional eyed egg stockings of 6,000 eyed eggs and 2,000 eyed eggs occurred in April 2020 and March 2021. An initial population estimate in March of 2021 estimated the total population of Gila Trout within the 1.2km of perennial stream to be 336 individuals with an 80% confidence interval of (142 531). With the success of the 2019 stocking and large numbers of Gila Trout observed in Grapevine Creek, the Arizona Game and Fish Commission approved a proposal to open Grapevine Creek to seasonal catch and release angling beginning in 2021. From the available angling data, 53 Gila Trout have been caught by 13 anglers at Grapevine Creek, accounting for 44 hours of angling activity, with all but two anglers being ‘very satisfied’ with the catch rates for Gila Trout. Grapevine Creek has been a tremendous success for the recovery of Gila Trout by restoring a new population, and by providing new opportunities for angling.