J
JasonC
Member
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- Jun 30, 2018
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- 206
Can a stream have an adequate survival of trout if the stream does not provide any fly hatches? I guess what I’m asking is, can they survive on terrestrials, aquatic insects and fish?
Dave_W
Moderator
Staff member
Sure - trout can and do survive in habitats where their forage are not traditional aquatic insects.
Many streams - think infertile mountain brookie streams or acidic lakes in the Adirondacks - have very sparse insect life. The fish feed on other stuff. For an even more extreme example, consider some of the infertile, high elevation lakes out West. Some of these have very sparse macroinvertebrate life and fish feed during the summer almost entirely on terrestrial bugs carried great distances up the mountains by thermal currents.
Many streams - think infertile mountain brookie streams or acidic lakes in the Adirondacks - have very sparse insect life. The fish feed on other stuff. For an even more extreme example, consider some of the infertile, high elevation lakes out West. Some of these have very sparse macroinvertebrate life and fish feed during the summer almost entirely on terrestrial bugs carried great distances up the mountains by thermal currents.
F
falcon
Well-known member
Many infertile brook trout streams are full of blackfly larva. Small but many bites.
T
troutbert
Well-known member
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- 10,808
Could you describe the stream? What is it's problem? Mine drainage? Infertile geology + acid rain?
Something else?
And does it have a trout population?
I've caught brook trout in streams where there didn't appear to be much living in the stream. I think their food is primarily terrestrials.
The fish in these streams are skinny even in late-May. But by September they are fat. I think they are fattening up in the summer because summer and early fall is prime time for terrestrial insects.
But I think streams that have good enough water quality that they can support wild trout usually have SOMETHING living in the stream. In some streams it seems to be mostly midge larvae.
Something else?
And does it have a trout population?
I've caught brook trout in streams where there didn't appear to be much living in the stream. I think their food is primarily terrestrials.
The fish in these streams are skinny even in late-May. But by September they are fat. I think they are fattening up in the summer because summer and early fall is prime time for terrestrial insects.
But I think streams that have good enough water quality that they can support wild trout usually have SOMETHING living in the stream. In some streams it seems to be mostly midge larvae.
