Once there were no trout, now there are many: another Berks Co stream goes wild

[Mike]

Documented this week was that in the lower third of Angelica Ck, where in 1977 no wild trout were found in a representative 300 yd sampling site, a similar location (some overlap with previous site) was holding at least 140 wild brown trout in 330 yds. Thirty-three were of legal size. Biomass = Class B equivalent. Previously, the stream was warm in this location. Stormwater runoff was also a a problem, and still is, but not enough to thoroughly destroy the habitat. In fact, some natural (felled trees in stream, more shade) and man-made habitat improvement has occurred.

Note: The middle third of Angelica Ck still holds a a low density wild brown trout population, just as it did 38 yrs ago. No real improvement has occurred there.

 

[greenghost]

Thanks for the post, Mike. I LOVE hearing these stories. This stream sounds like an ideal case for stream improvement projects since the researched showed the lower third has documented improvement thanks to increased cover. I assume the same could be done for the middle third.

 

[Mike]

Green,
In this specific instance more habitat improvement would most likely show a positive response, particularly as demonstrated by the existing work that has been done already. In particular, there is a lot of fingerling and yearling habitat, but a less than desirable amount of adult habitat. There are enough adults that I would fish it, however. The structures and natural features that have created pocket holes and small pools were all holding adult fish. There is room for more of these structures and habitat types and creating more would most likely enhance adult trout abundance, provided that they were properly constructed (as were most of the existing ones) to withstand the substantial stormwater forces. These forces are often the downfall, in my observation, of well-intentioned habitat projects on urban/suburban streams that suffer high stormwater flows. I would rather see one rock structure constructed per year that is done well than three or four that ultimately blow apart. Thanks for bringing that up.

 

[rrt]

This sounds at least a little bit encouraging.

 

[dc410]

I consider these trends to be very encouraging. I'm sure there are plenty of more stories like this to be discovered all around the State. Thanks for the good news, Mike.

 

[Maurice]

I am curious why/how we can conclude that a '' previously warm section" is not sufficient to hold trout when surveyed in November? Of course it is cool enough now.

Perhaps these resident brown trout have migrated to this location once the temperatures improved?

It occurs to me that without also surveying the previous site for baseline comparison the captured trout could have simply relocated from a poor habitat area in summer refuge to a better habitat area once the temps improved.

And what sorts of rock structures and other habitat structures are present there that are holding fish?

 

[jifigz]

True enough Maurice. It is still encouraging to at least identify trout in a stream that was once thought to have no wild population.

 

[Mike]

This alternative would require hundreds of fingerlings to be migrating up and down the stream and adults migrating downstream to spawn after a summer upstream. And after nearly 40 years of survey work on smaller wild trout streams like this one would think that we would have run into some evidence of this during the hot summer months in SE Pa. After all, if the conditions are that poor, both adults and fingerlings would be seeking refuge and some refugia would holding unusually large concentrations of fingerlings. We have not seen this.
What we have seen in wild trout streams is one marginal freestoner or limestone influenced freestoner where pockets of perhaps 10 adult trout have balled up around a small spring that emerges mid-channel from the gravel.

Be advised, however, that our primary interest is that a portion of this stream supports a wild trout population, substantial where measured, where none was ever known to exist in the past (and I don't think one did exist based on experience, survey data, and an absence of reports from this highly visible stream). One thing that did get me more interested in a resurvey of the stream was reports of wild trout at its mouth. Wild trout fingerlings and adults have even appeared in a former 8 acre warmwater lake bed where stream channel, riparian vegetation, and wetland restoration took place. The dam breached in a hurricane in the year 2000.

I would add that this improvement in this stream's wild trout population to the extent that a Class B candidate population is present where no trout were found in the past is consistent with other improvements to the Class A candidate level that we have seen in other near-by streams in Berks.

As an aside, a larger mid-state stream is one unusual example where a number of the adult browns exhibit petadromy (patadromy? see comment below). Based on tagging studies, they migrate downstream to reach a trib and then migrate up that trib to spawn. It would be believable that the trib is their natal water and that they are imprinted to the trib, but to my knowledge that aspect was never determined.

 

[JackM]

Mike wrote:
A larger mid-state stream is one unusual example where a number of the adult browns exhibit petadromy.

That's perverse!

 

[Mike]

Ok Jack, I may have misspelled the word...could be patadromous. My home references were not helpful. I'll change the word to the general diadromous, which broadly includes fish that migrate from saltwater to freshwater to spawn or vice versa (American eels). It may generally cover fish that migrate from one stream to another to spawn, but I have never heard it used in that way, thus I presented the word that refers to such behavior, although my spelling may be off by one letter.

 

[afishinado]

Maurice wrote:
I am curious why/how we can conclude that a '' previously warm section" is not sufficient to hold trout when surveyed in November? Of course it is cool enough now.

Perhaps these resident brown trout have migrated to this location once the temperatures improved?

It occurs to me that without also surveying the previous site for baseline comparison the captured trout could have simply relocated from a poor habitat area in summer refuge to a better habitat area once the temps improved.

And what sorts of rock structures and other habitat structures are present there that are holding fish?

Mike wrote:
This alternative would require hundreds of fingerlings to be migrating up and down the stream and adults migrating downstream to spawn after a summer upstream. And after nearly 40 years of survey work on smaller wild trout streams like this one would think that we would have run into some evidence of this during the hot summer months in SE Pa. After all, if the conditions are that poor, both adults and fingerlings would be seeking refuge and some refugia would holding unusually large concentrations of fingerlings. We have not seen this.
What we have seen in wild trout streams is one marginal freestoner or limestone influenced freestoner where pockets of perhaps 10 adult trout have balled up around a small spring that emerges mid-channel from the gravel.

Be advised, however, that our primary interest is that a portion of this stream supports a wild trout population, substantial where measured, where none was ever known to exist in the past. Wild trout fingerlings and adults have even appeared in a former 8 acre warmwater lake bed where stream channel, riparian vegetation, and wetland restoration took place. The dam breached in a hurricane in the year 2000.

I would add that this improvement in this streams wild trout population to the extent that a Class B candidate population is present where no trout were found in the past is consistent with other improvements to the Class A candidate level that we have seen in other near-by streams in Berks.

As an aside, a larger mid-state stream is one unusual example where a number of the adult browns exhibit petadromy. Based on tagging studies, they migrate downstream to reach a trib and then migrate up that trib to spawn. It would be believable that the trib is their natal water and that they are imprinted to the trib, but to my knowledge that aspect was never determined.

I know the stream well, so I'll take a shot at Mo's question about this stream.

It's only a few miles long. The upper section is very small and runs through a golf course with several pond diversions, and just above that it is completely dammed up into a pond. So no fish refuging from that direction.

As Mike stated above, the middle section is semi-marginal water and surveys show it still holds still holds a low density population of wild trout, so they're not migrating from there.

The creek flows into the Schuylkill River, a warmwater stream in that section, so the fish certainly don't use that as their summer refuge.

One can only conclude that there is a resident population of wild trout, albeit mostly smaller fish. Both logic and my feeshing pole tells me so.

 

[JackM]

Mike, I was just being silly and also calling attention to the fact that most of us did not understand what you meant.

 

[troutbert]

Mike wrote:

Wild trout fingerlings and adults have even appeared in a former 8 acre warmwater lake bed where stream channel, riparian vegetation, and wetland restoration took place. The dam breached in a hurricane in the year 2000.

Was elimination of the 8 acre warmwater lake the main reason for the trout population improvement?

In all these cases where the trout population increased, the immediate question is why? What happened? What made the difference?

(The same is true when trout populations decline significantly.)

I hope that PFBC biologists will do that analysis, put it in the reports, and communicate it to the public. Because that is very useful information.

 

[Stenonema]

Do Brown Trout imprint? I've read that they do not. I believe that the dam breaching may have had an impact, if it allowed this genetic the option to spawn in this water. It would make sense to observe and find adult trout there now and juvenile trout throughout the seasons and watershed. If it is true that brown trout do not imprint it would make sense then that not one hundred percent of adult trout return to spawn in their natal stream. Is it then possible that in the free flowing system that remains and within it, this genetic exists and established themselves here?
Well it sounds like it is cleaning up and cooling becoming more habitable for trout, time to stock it. As crazy as that sounds to us, we have sat back and done exactly that to trout like these over the state suppressing the hell out of them.
If these trout are what you suggest Mike, then I would assume that the adult fish you found were larger than what you believe the stream could produce from a residential trout as they should be if this is the case.

By the way Mike, I like the way you are thinking.

 

[DGC]

I checked the Armstrong book on PA limestone streams and he reported nice holding water and cool temperatures for Angelica but no trout. No way to tell what stretch he was on. Perusing the book further, he tried a number of streams in that area that looked like they should hold trout but didn't due to a variety of misuses/abuses. Since, many of these have been surveyed and hold wild populations, as Mike mentioned in general terms above. What to make of this?

The last 20 years has seen an explosion of Rails-to-Trails and greenway development interest in the SE and SC. And of course TU works with landowners and townships on all kinds of projects, tree planting being just one example--a simple if labor intensive effort that makes a huge difference.

Most of us already know this so it isn't news per se but it never hurts to remind ourselves this work pays off with wild trout.

As to Angelica, to the conservation/greenway folks who put forth the money and effort to make this possible, thanks.

 

[Mike]

And the correct spelling is: Potadromous. Thanks to BrookieChaser for correcting my weekend mental block.

 

[Chaz]

I looked it up,,, it would be POTAMODROMOUS...a migration of fish entirely in freshwater.
I assume this would include the any reservoirs that hold trout during hot months and have those same trout out to streams during the fall or spring to spawn or follow baitfish.

 

[Troy]

Alvernia University is responsible for some of the improvements at Angelica. They helped create the wetlands in the park.

 

[riverwhy]

On google maps it they call both streams Angelica that merge just north of Nolde Forest. Is one the East and the other the West Branch? Also, I took my students to Nolde Forest years ago and the tour guide told me there are native brookies the small stream that runs through the property. Does anyone know if that is true/still true?

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

Many years ago I caught wild browns and bows there. Bows were in the 4-5" range.