pool-bound brookies?

k-bob

k-bob

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I am sometimes surprised by the number of brookies in one pool of a tiny, steep stream. I attach a poor-quality image of a pool, maybe 12' x 8', 2-3' max water depth, that had half dozen+ brookies in this low-flow image. (the little trickles in and out of the pool in my fall image are it.) It's a steep 4' drop to next pool downstream, and a less steep 3' upgrade to some larger-footprint-but-shallower pools upstream .. So do these brookies live their entire lives in this one pool? Or can they move up in higher water, but move back down to this relatively deep pool for super low fall-winter flows?


 

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They may indee live their entire lives in such harsh environments, and that's also why they seldom get larger than a sublegal fish. But during big storms they will, if there isn't a refuge for them be swept downstream to another pool. I would bet on these fish living more than 3 or 4 years.
 
I imagine they are only stuck temporarily or depending on how badly they want out...if the pool suites their needs they probably don't have a reason to leave. On a few occasions I've seen trout move through some amazing obstacles.
Near my home there is a dam about 5 feet high. I saw a trout almost clear it in several attempts. I'm sure when the water is a little higher, it could make it. I think height is more of a restriction than water flow/velocity. On another recent occasion I watched 2 large browns 20"+ leave a pool through a tiny riffle (maybe 1" of water) for the next pool. Watching them maneuver with their backs exposed was pretty awesome.
Looking at your picture I'd think that they might be stuck only until the next big rain comes along.
 
interesting, it is difficult to imagine the brookies leaving that pool ... but also difficult to imagine that many fish living there for their entire lives.

I cant imagine that they can move over the grade downstream 5 feet very steep

maybe in really high water they can move to the upstream pools
 
They don't need much water to move in i.e. Trout run in lake Erie. And native brookies need even less water to move in especially downstream.
 
the fish are not really that small ...maybe part of the equation is how much of a food source they have even if the pool they stay in is small... will try to remember to flip some rocks in places like that
 
I think it's very possible that they spend their whole live in that pool. Some fish may get washed down over steep drops, even ones that could not be passed in the upstream direction.

Regarding food, it's not just what is found in the pool. It's also what comes down in the drift from upstream. Which includes both aquatic and terrestrial insects.
 
It's a good question Bob, but one I often ask myself along these lines is this:
If I catch a fish in one of these pools is it best to put him back in that same pool when I release it or if I release him to the stream above or below the pool does it matter?
I often wonder if I am doing something wrong to the fish if I don't put it right back where it came from.
 
I have the same thoughts but I just put them back. some streams have waterfalls or ledges that must effectively create stream sections and fish live in those sections. in some cases there seem to be a lot of fish in short bordered sections.

interesting the places where brookie populations can hang on. I do think that part of the answer may be a lot of bug life in some small streams.
 
If no one is along the stream, does a trout make a sound when it's washed downstream?
 
Aducker wrote:
It's a good question Bob, but one I often ask myself along these lines is this:
If I catch a fish in one of these pools is it best to put him back in that same pool when I release it or if I release him to the stream above or below the pool does it matter?
I often wonder if I am doing something wrong to the fish if I don't put it right back where it came from.

I usually release the fish below the place I caught them, and it is surprising how easily they move back to where they came from. They do this even when there is a big obstacle.
 
I'm usually moving upstream when fishing so most of the time they get released below where they were caught and i've thought about if doing that is right or not...............interesting subject.
 
not my image, but PA has some streams that are so steep that brookies must live on one step of the ladder, can't go up or down...
 

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