Pretty cool vid of the Maryland DNR researching wild Brook Trout movement in the Upper Savage River. Sounds like they are at least seasonally present in lower stocked sections.

They implant a transmitter on a 10 incher...trout are a lot tougher than we give them credit for sometimes.

To say this dude has a cool job is a major understatement...

MD DNR Brook Trout

Great video...wonder how much brookies move around in a really steep mtn stream?

Quote:

My guess is probably less than on a larger stream like Savage. By really steep I'm thinking basically plunge pools separated by several feet in elevation each time? Temps are less likely to be an issue requiring movement on a stream like that, and movement from pool to pool outside of high flow events is probably difficult and close to impossible in some cases.

I imagine this may play a role in year to year spawning success. If there are no high flow events in the prespawn period to allow for movement of the fish, you may not end up with the right mix in each pool to allow for a decent spawn?

"By really steep I'm thinking basically plunge pools separated by several feet in elevation each time?"

yes,... these steep pool-plunge-pool streams can fly fish well in low water, because the high water that makes a flatter brookie stream fish well turns pool-plunge-pool ones into a torrent that blasts your fly too fast for fish to hit.

Attach file:

---

  6359614965_464357e1c6_m.jpg (30.19 KB)

I can verify 7 fish that I've caught the same fish more than once, separated by at least 1 year, in the exact same pool.

1 of them I caught 4 times over 3 years, all in the same pool.

Yep...That's exactly what I had in mind. Very cool stream...those are my absolute favorites to fish.

I agree...they're a good option in lower water.

I know nothing about hydraulics, if that is the study of how water moves around but... I assume that in these pool-plunge-pool streams the water speed is much less in a crevice at pool bottom versus the surface ... so in high water the brookies may just be hanging on, and any food in the faster water is probably drifting too fast for even a brookie to see and snatch.

pat have you tried letting three spot go in another pool, to see if he makes his way back? :)

I forget which state, but I read a study of brook trout movement out West where they are the invasive species. The object of the study was to see what sorts of gradients would stop brook trout movement into upstream native cutthroat areas. The bottom line was that a 10" brook trout could move upstream in nearly any high gradient stream in the Rockies and they could jump 6 ft waterfalls. Brookies can get around and the study streams looked a whole lot like the high gradient stream in the photo.

I've been thinking of this lately, but most of the brook trout's range was under ice about 17,000 years ago. They certainly must be able to move over a lot of obstacles to recolonize all the streams they did.

k-bob, I gotta go look for him this year. See if he's still there. I doubt it, it'd be his 4th year in that pool, betcha I never see him again. :(

I was amazed how little he grew, though. He was 5-6" the first time I caught him. Just over 7" last year.

pat... not enough food for a bigger brookie, and competition from other brookies, I guess.

http://books.google.com/books?id=j35Z ... %20crystal%20lake&f=false

After watch the video, I looked for more studies, they are studying this in other parts of the brookie range. One study involves Salters in MA near Cape Cod.
I know of another study on the Nipagon R. in Canada, of brookies movement in and out of L. Superior. Interesting stuff.
What I can say about movement is that they will go right back to the same pool you catch them in after release in he water below. Even with a big barrier between the two locations. Saw it on the Rapidan R. in S N P.
Pine Creek is an excellent example of brook trout movement, many of it's tribs have brook trout populations, that move out during the winter and are not in the tribs early in the season. As soon as the water in Pine starts to warm they move up into the tribs, when Pine cools in the fall after spawning they move to the big creek to over winter.

Neat stuff! Old angling literature of PA tells of brook trout movements in our larger freestone streams like Kettle Creek, the Loyalsock and others. A hundred years ago, brookies in large freestone waters often reached 12 inches and occasionally 20 inches. They moved out of these larger downstream waters when water temperature started to climb above the comfort level in the late spring, usually early in June. It was known as "the June Rise."

As summer progressed, upstream movements continued until they reached their spawning sites. After spawning in October thru early November, they moved back downstream to winter over in the big downstream pools. In these big mainstem waters they were safe from anchor ice and the other perils of winter common to small headwater streams.

This expanded their forage base and gave them access to larger prey like minnows and crayfish. In the spring they could take advantage of the heavy hatches as well. This behavior allowed them to live long lives and reach sizes we can only imagine today. I suspect this could still happen in some of our remaining unpolluted larger freestones.

Obviously the Maryland fisheries people have recognized this behavior as being an important aspect of brook trout biology. I wish the PFBC would do some of these kinds of studies instead of spending all its efforts on stuffing streams with hatchery fish every spring.

IT costs money, something that PFBC because of it's oversized hatchery program is in short supply.