Brookie conservation/restoration efforts?

[Hellgrammite 0]

Hello all. I have been a member of this little forum for a month or so i suppose, and this is the first (may well be the only) serious topic i have posted. I have never had a hobby (obsession?) bite me as hard or as deeply as fly fishing, tying, and studying the native insects (i never thought, a month ago, id be picking stones out of stream beds and trying to identify a nymphs species!)

 

I have yet to catch a brookie, but i have seen some! And what wonderful little fish! Even through the water those colors show, and they are as wary and spooky as any fish i have ever seen. Amazing that such a little fish, 6 or 7 inches long, can have such an effect on me. I find myself drifting off in daydreams about finding some unknown pool, you know the dream...that one with the small plunge pool below the waterfall, shrouded so densely in brush and willows that a passerby would miss it. That dream pool with dozens of 10" brookies swimming in water so clear, it resembles glass....

 

And now, after trying to get my "brookie fix" on the internet, searching for information on the animals themselves, on the streams, on the insects....i see that they live in but a tiny fraction of the streams that they once had reign over. Ohio has a small population of brookies in the Chagrin River (probably tributaries in the Kirtland area, where the forests have survived largely intact) yet, we once had them in most of our streams. The same seems to apply to many states, PA, Maryland, New York, West Virginia....they survive, but in a fraction of their former range.

 

Does anyone know if the brookie population is safe, declining, or improving? Also, are there any conservation or watershed restoration programs going on to try and undo some of the damage we have done? I know that populations can fluctuate from region to region or even from stream to stream, but overall, how are the brookies doing? Stable, declining, or improving? Is there anything people can do to help? Do any state DNRs have programs in place to address issues of water quality, erosion and siltification, loss of streamside vegetation, etc? I would love to think that one day, perhaps, brookies would be restablished in some of these areas lost to them.

 

When i was a child, coyotes were unheard of in Ohio. If you saw an otter or turkey you called everyone you knew to tell them about it! We now of course have unheard of numbers of coyotes...they seem to be very adept survivors on their own. The turkey and otter required DNR assistance, but both programs have been so successful that we are allowed to trap otters in several NE Ohio counties, and can turkey hunt across the whole state. Both within 15 to 20 years of the implementation of these programs. Can similar programs, related to a fish like brook trout, have any chances of success? Such a program would be twofold i imagine...both habitat restoration and restocking.

 

Just babbling on about a tiny fish...see what i mean? They have some power, those fish.

 

Any input, links, or info would be great.

Tim

 

[MiniMag 0]

Speaking from Georgia I can name off only 3 streams that contain Brook Trout that I'm aware of.

 

In each case, these streams are tributaries to larger rivers, generally cut off from below by falling water to prevent Rainbows and Browns from invading. The brooks are generally small, although put up a fight not typically associated with their size. On several occasions I've watched the trout actually jump out of the water and land on the fly to take it; it really is astounding to watch.

 

It's a hard call to say whether the population is safe or declining, I certainly have trouble seeing it improving down here at least, as the Rainbows and Browns will not let it recover any territory whatsoever. I suppose it's only a matter of time before the Brook trout disappear from Georgia entirely.

 

We've had a terrible summer, almost no rain; most of the state remains in a drought "State of Emergency". The water is down extremely low, putting a severe hurt on all species of trout, especially the Brooks being in the higher headwaters.

 

So in a weak attempt to answer your question: Yes I think the population is safe for the moment. How long? No one really knows, I highly doubt the Ga DNR is putting any effort specifically towards the Brook trout, although some conversation efforts have been made by Georgia Forest Watch in general towards erosions and the problems associated with it.

 

Hell, who knows... perhaps one day the Brook Trout will reign again. It's a nice thought to ponder on.

[Sagittarius62 0]

TU Brook Trout Page Here is some info regarding efforts to improve the plight of our little speckled friends.

[Isonychia 0]

The main limiting factor on brook trout survival is water temperature. Brookies are actually members of the char family, more closely related to Arctic char than rainbow, brown or cutthroat trout. They require colder water. Trout can survive and even thrive in streams where summertime water temperatures routinely top 72 degrees Fahrenheit. Brookies prefer water that seldom gets above 65 degrees.

 

Here in West Virginia, we are actually reclaiming some brook-trout fisheries that had been eliminated by acid mine drainage or by acid rain. Biologists for our Division of Natural Resources discovered that they could raise a stream's pH to non-fatal levels by dumping limestone sand along the bank. When the water rises, it kicks the limestone into solution and buffers the acid load. To date, more than 100 miles of "dead" brook trout streams have been restored.

 

The news isn't all good, though. People are building a lot of vacation homes in some of the state's wildest places. "Rural sprawl" is encroaching on some streams. Others are being "daylighted" by timber operations. Our state Trout Unlimited council is a key player in TU's "Back the Brookie" campaign.

 

John

[Skiperie 0]

I'll get your Brookie fix going even more LOL

 

I too got hooked this year I'm going a few more times this fall

 

http://users.adelphia.net/~skip16510/Brookie%20Trip%201.htm

[Guidofisherman 0]

I'm also a brookie nut. Up here in NW Ontaro, we have two sizes of brook trout....small and big. The inland lakes and streams have the typical 4 to 10 inch brookies, then we have the big boys called Coasters that live in Lake Superior, Lake Nipigon and The Nipigon river (home of the WR 14lbs 8oz in 1915). Genetically, it has been scientifically provern there is no significant difference between the two. A 10 inch parent can produce a fish that will grow to 8lbs or more, yet that same large fish could produce a 6 inch stream brookie. The determining factor seems to be food source and location.

Here is a link to my site called "Brook Trout Heaven" that focuses on the larger variety only because of availability. I equally admire and respect ALL sizes of brook trout. C&R only! Here is a taste of what excites me. The first one is just over 5 lbs caught on a woolhead sculpin pattern and the underwater shot simply shows the release of a fish from a different angle. Enjoy!

Alan

http://members.shaw.ca/amuir/

 

[Chase Creek 0]

I've fished a lot of the big name rivers, a lot of just big rivers, and I can't think of a better time than stalking Brookies on a small stream. It's about all I fish for anymore. Feels like home every time I go to "my" streams. They don't get very big there (10" is a good fish, although I once took a 14" Brookie), but I sure like where they hang out.

It's good to hear from someone who is concerned about such matters.

Check out the TU page.

[sandflyx 0]

here in north central pa we have lots yet...

[nemoblackdog 0]

The story of the brookie seems to have more than a bit of irony

 

Where it has largely been displaced in its native range in the East by non-native rainbows and browns, and there are efforts underway to try to preserve it in those locales, it has "flourished" in the high mountain streams of the West where it is itself a non-native species. As part of the process of re-establishing the native cutthroat populations of the West, there have been efforts to encourage taking of brook trout (as in don't release them once caught). The "success" of the catch-and-release ethic made that a less-than-successful technique. Other efforts have included chemical means to eradicate brookie populations so that cutthroats can be introduced without needing to compete with the brookies. In some of those areas, cutthroats have come back nicely, with the Greenback being one of the most notable examples. However, many high-mountain streams and lakes in the Rockies still have relatively large numbers of brook trout that, barring extraordinary circumstances, will likely remain for the foreseeable future. In some locales they exist in such numbers that they often have signs of what some call over-population, to the point where there is not enough food and you get brook trout with head sizes that appear quite out-of-proportion to their body length.

 

The final irony is that if one's goal is to catch brookies, it may well be just as easy to get on a plane and fly to the Rockies as catch them in their native range.

 

BTW, Robert Behnke's book Trout and Salmon of North America covers this in pretty good detail.