For those of you who might be wondering what the OP was talking about, here's what was posted today (8/6/23) on Facebook by Bill Anderson of the Little Juniata River Association:
"The Little Juniata River Association is considering the removal of brown trout from Bells Gap Run above the reservoir. Historically this Little J tributary has had a good population of native Eastern Brook Trout. However, in recent years those of us who fish it have found that many, if not most, of the fish we catch there are brown trout. While we love wild brown trout and they are our our prefered target in the river, we do not like to see them dominating and eventually replacing our brookies in this small stream. Now, with the reservoir empty for repairs, is an opportune time to attempt to remove (transfer to the river) as many brown trout as possible. Stay tuned for updates. You can also attend our next meeting at Marzonis Restaurant on August 10th at 7pm where this subject will be discussed. Bill"
Here is my initial response:
I'm 100% against removing the wild brown trout from Bells Gap Run above the reservoir.
1. I'm assuming your method would be electro-shocking. If I take the farthest point upstream in the main stem and each of its tributaries where I have caught wild brown trout, offhand I'd estimate that you'd have to electro-shock at least six to seven miles of water to cover the water where there are wild brown trout. This is assuming you're trying to eliminate all wild brown trout. If you're not trying to eliminate all wild brown trout, then all that you are doing is trying to put a band-aid on what you perceive is the reason the native brook trout population has plunged in Bells Gap Run. Let a couple years go by after you've applied your band-aid and the wild browns would be back, so what have you accomplished?
2. How do you know that wild brown trout are the reason for the decline in the native brook trout population? The truth is you don't know. I've been fishing the main stem from where it enters the reservoir to the junction of Green Springs Run and Tubb Run, which is where my map shows Bells Gap Run begins, several times each year since 1986. I'm VERY familiar with the stream and all of its tributaries. (In fact, if I had the free time to compile the data I could list the day, species and size of every trout I have ever caught in the entire watershed. Heck, I even fished Collier Run one time.) I have never caught a wild brown trout above the waterfalls located just below the mouth of Bear Loup Run, yet the native brook trout population above this waterfall has plummeted just like it has in the portion of the stream below this barrier. Seems to me this might indicate that wild brown trout aren't the cause of the problem.
3. If wild brown trout are the cause of the problem, why hasn't the wild brown trout population replaced the robust native brook trout population that was once there with a robust wild brown trout population? As an example, let's take the roughly one-mile stretch from the point where BGR enters the reservoir upstream to the mouth of Shaw Run. This is strictly a guess, but I'd estimate that the overall trout population is about one-tenth of what it was in its prime a decade or more ago. If wild brown trout are replacing the native brook trout, why hasn't it been on a more or less one-to-one basis? Seems like maybe one wild brown trout has replaced ten native brookies, roughly. This leads me to think that there are other factors involved. Could it be that whatever factors are suppressing the native brook trout population are also suppressing the wild brown trout population?
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