Observations on Spruce Creek

[lycoflyfisher]

The displeasure of using the Wild trout funds for a project on this stream has been hammered, I think we can move on... While we can all agree that the private stocking, feeding etc have altered the watershed, the fact still remains that there are wild trout and it still is a destination stream for many anglers. The IC property recently made available for the public could be improved by instream habitat work to improve holding water on the small stretch of public access on this stream. There are either wild trout present or there aren't.

 

[silverfox]

lycoflyfisher wrote:
The displeasure of using the Wild trout funds for a project on this stream has been hammered, I think we can move on... While we can all agree that the private stocking, feeding etc have altered the watershed, the fact still remains that there are wild trout and it still is a destination stream for many anglers. The IC property recently made available for the public could be improved by instream habitat work to improve holding water on the small stretch of public access on this stream. There are either wild trout present or there aren't.

That point was more or less a footnote to the post about the fungi, stockers and spawning in the caverns section.

I'd really prefer to be told what I can or cannot say by a moderator of the site frankly. I've never understood when other members dictate when it's "time to move on" from a subject.

 

[KenU]

That fungus is Saprolegnia. You can see it by walking past the Spring Creek Hatchery ponds in the summer. Far more brookies than browns exhibit it. Brook trout are far more significantly affected than browns. In a 1992 study by DeWald and Wilzbach published in the J. American Fisheries Society, when exposed 33 percent of the brook trout died but no brown trout died.

 

[silverfox]

KenU wrote:
That fungus is Saprolegnia. You can see it by walking past the Spring Creek Hatchery ponds in the summer. Far more brookies than browns exhibit it. Brook trout are far more significantly affected than browns. In a 1992 study by DeWald and Wilzbach published in the J. American Fisheries Society, when exposed 33 percent of the brook trout died but no brown trout died.

I knew the fungus but didn't know the effect on brook trout relative to other species. Just from what I observed there, the browns did seem to be the least impacted. Some big browns had spots of fungus and I know a big male brown died down in the Harvey section that had a fair amount on it's head. The rainbows were obviously the most impacted. It seemed like individual size had something to do with it. I didn't see any smaller fish (12-14) with any signs of infection. It was only the larger 18-22+ fish that seemed impacted.