Lower Mountain Fork River Research Updates
May 24, 2016 11:21:48 GMT -6
Aaron, Fenwick, and 4 more like this
Post by tsfarling on May 24, 2016 11:21:48 GMT -6
I just wanted to update you guys on the research that we are conducting. For those of you who don't know, we are collecting aquatic macroinvertebrates (bugs) and trying to find wild juvenile trout. I want to look at diet, age, and habitat availability. We are collecting bugs near our fish sample sites in order to compare what we find in the samplers to what is in the stomach of the juvenile trout. By wild juvenile trout, I mean, tiny, 1-3" fish, possibly 4". Anything bigger starts to reach the range of a slow growth stocked trout but we are still trying to determine that. Some of the 5-6" stocked trout can still have Parr marks on them. With the tiny trout, as seen in my profile picture, you know they were born, probably a month or two ago, in the river. The hatchery does not release that small of parr. Baby rainbows, Parr (a.k.a, fry), have the parr marks on them. If you guys catch one of these on a fly, please let me know when and where if possible here on the board. With your help, my study can be a lot more efficient since I can't constantly be in the field. Pat, with the Lower Mountain Fork River Foundation, caught two on the fly and we went back the next day, sampled it, and were able to confirm and collect the existence of these juvenile trout. We have only found them in an intermittent stream off spillway creek and near the Bluffs at this point. We haven't seen anything in the remaining stretches of the river down to HWY 70. I will be back June 5-10th to do more sampling. Say hello if you see my crew and I out on the river! We try to stay out of the way. Also, side note, we are not shocking the large fish. Shocking a large fish can cause it to take a 24 or so break from eating. The method we are using allows the larger fish to feel us coming ahead of time. They are more sensitive to it. They tend to move on well before we get close enough to shock them. Every once in a while it does happen where we spook one from under a log. Pro tip: We have seen quite a few under logs! I am sure you guys already know to fish structure anyways. Again, if you can, post a picture of juveniles and either pinpoint them on your phone GPS or write a detailed location description if you find any. Hope to see you guys out there!
