Rainbow behavior

[Chappy]

I witnessed a strange event that I have never seen before and maybe someone can lend some insight. I was fishing the Westfield at @ 6 p.m. not having much luck as I expected the water was real low and warm. I managed to fool the occasional smallie but no trout. Then as I was leaving I saw a few splashes near this log on the same bank as me I casted a black nosed dace in the direction of the log a few strips and I got a nice 14" rainbow. This fish had nice color a golden green on top and dark pink on his sides thats not the strange part, it was were I had this fish hit from maybe 6-8" of water next to the bank with the sun beaming down. Anyway heard more ruckus from the log and as I walked closer I could maybe 50 rainbows all huddling this log next to the bank. There is a tiny creek that runs down the hill and eventually spills out right where the log meets the water. There were also a few dead trout floating next to the bank. Could this be a cause for concern? I figured that there may have been low levels of oxygen in that bend of the river causing the trout to seek the creeks downspout but I don't know. I got close enough to these fish were all I had to do is put my net in the water scoop one up for further examination and I didn't notice anything physically wrong with the fish, they were still skiddish to a degree not lethargic. Do you think I should call the DEP? Has anyone ever seen something like this?

[Redwings1]

Was the water in the feeder significantly colder...thermal refuge...?

[Smoked Trout]

Those rainbows were huddled up in the cool water of the incoming stream trying to breath. Once the water temps starts to clime into the 70s trout become stressed and have to migrate to the cool spots in the river. This behavior is very common on the Housy during the summer. It is also why the thermal refuges are posted as no fishing zones during the summer on the Housy. As for rainbows grouping together and doing this I suspect that they are less tolerant of high water temps than browns. I also believe that brook trout are even less tolerant than the rainbows; they probably moved up in to the tributaries or died by now.

Regards,

[Housy Dave]

Yeah, they'll stack up right at the mouth of a creek even if the water is only 5 degrees colder.

Most of the stocked rainbows don't make it past july (the only possible exception is maybe the farmington). Browns can usually tolerate up to about 70, before they get really stressed. If you like to eat fish, now is probably a good time to take a rainbow or two home cause they won't make it too much longer.

[The Fisherman]

As others have said, it is absolutely fish stacked up in a thermal refuge.

Good suggestion about taking a few fish while you can (if you can creel fish on this stretch). If you're not going to keep them, you shouldn't fish for them, because playing them while under such stress will likely off them.

[Housy Dave]

I always wondered if the DEP would consider a program where, around this time of year, they check near feeder streams for large schools of trout. If found, they net the fish, bring them back to the hatchery for a few months, then put them back in the river in the fall.

I don't know, is that a crazy idea? Obviously, they could only do this where they could get access to the area.

[steve]

Those trout were definitely holed up in a thermal refuge. Trout in a thermal refuge should not be bothered at all; don't fish for them, don't do anything to spook them. They are probably already stressed, and, if not, will definitely be stressed if you spook them and cause them to flee the thermal refuge. This is why areas on the Housy are posted no fishing between the end of June and the begining of Sept.

I am not familiar with the Westfield, and thus do not know if, in the area referred to, it is possible for the trout to survive the summer. If the feeder streams stay cool enough, or if there are springs feeding the river (some of which may bubble up through the river bottom, and thus not be obvious), the trout may be able to survive, and be bigger trout next year. If that is the case you want to protect those trout, not harvest them, at least if you practice catch and release.

By the way, Housy Dave, Rainbows (and Brookies and Browns) definitely survive the summer on the Farmington. On the Farmington trout mortality is affected mainly by injuries caused by fishermen (and Osprey, Eagles, etc.) not by thermal stress, at least in the upper parts of the river, perhaps the lower TMA gets warm enough to stress them, I don't know. Rainbows also survive the summer in the Housy too, which has a lot of cooler feeder streams and springs (hence Spring Hole's name). That is why I was able to catch a 22" (measured) Rainbow there last spring. That fish was stocked at least a year before I caught it, maybe two. By the way it was caught outside the TMA and was released. Plenty of large browns are caught every year in the Housy, and the state does not stock any brood stock fish in the Housy, so they are all holdovers that made it through the summer at least once.

[Housy Dave]

Steve, I never said they didn't survive in the farmington. I know that some survive based on seeing the fish that I've caught. I'm pretty familiar with the hous and would also agree that some rainbows make it year round there too. Although there are private clubs that stock large rainbow trout ( > 16") every spring outside the TMA. There are also private clubs that stock the tributaries, such as the hollenbeck. There are also lots of fish coming in from Kent falls trout park. So a lot of rainbows do make it into the river, and it's tough to tell a holdover rainbow, or how long that fish has been in the river. I've probably caught about a dozen this year in the TMA, which is more than ever before.

Most other rivers in CT don't hold a candle to the hous or the Farmington. In these places, the vast majority of the fish (browns and rainbows) don't live through the summer because the habitat is not suitable. For example, the shetucket, yantic, salmon river to name a few. When 98% of the fish are going to die in these places, why refrain from harvesting fish? This is the reason why some streams are catch and release for only part of the year. Sure, I would like to see the fish survive also, but the reality is they don't.

[Flyone73]

Housy Dave;
Have you ever fished the Hollenbeck? I know that it is stocked by a club on Rt.163 and most of the river in that area is posted, but is there an any access below that? PM me if you don't want to divulge to the public.

I have a friend that grew up int that area, and he says there more fish in there than you can shake a stick at. But I can't imagine that those fish hold over. The water is so small it must really heat up.

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks Jeff

[Housy Dave]

Jeff, I fished it a few times, but I was a guest on private property owned by one of those clubs. I don't really have any inside info, and have no idea what the wild trout population is like.

I noticed that a stretch of the river runs through Robbins Swamp WMA just before it gets to the hous. That is state land so you could acess there. I've never been in there, it looked a little rough from the road though.

[steve B]

Dave,
is that 98% an arbitrary number or have you factual evidence to back that up. I fish the Shetucket , natchaug for smallies in the summer and wet wade I can tell you there are a lot more thermal refuge areas on these and other rivers in the state than just were brooks enter. I know of at leats 3 spots on one section of the shetucket that trout will stack up in them due to the springs bubbling up into the bottom of these pools. I have taken water temps and they can be any were from 5 to 8 degrees cooler. These are of course deeper pools so the releases from the dam of heated water does not effect them as shallower pools. Along with temp The other major factor is the disolved oxygen in the water , as you may know as water warms it can not hold as much oxygen as coller water.so it tends to be a combination of low and warm water that does the trout in. If they can find these refuges and be left alone they will survive. Just my 2 cents.

Steve'O

[Housy Dave]

SteveO, I just threw that out there for discussion sake. I probably shouldv'e said 'vast majority' or something like that. Sorry for the confusion. I've also spent lots of time on the shetucket fishing for smallies throught the summer and early fall. My observation is that it depends on the year. Some years there is a small percentage of holdovers and sometimes not. Thames valley TU has been conducting studies of the river recently, to support run of the river flow, and there is some good info in the book that they have published and on their website. I don't have it in from of me, but I think I remember reading something like 2 out of every 5 years the water becomes too warm to sustain trout. Don't quote me on that. Obviously, last year was one of those years.

[steve]

Housy Dave: Yeah, I know the Rainbow club stocks good sized rainbows in the Housy, outside of the TMA. I understand the state will not let them stock in the TMA, and yet every year I catch some several miles into the TMA, I guess that just goes to show us how far rainbows will migrate. Torrey, from Housatonic Outfitters, told me last spring that the Rainbow Club did not stock anything bigger than 18" that year, so he figured the fish was definitely a holdover. I have also caught both rainbows and browns in the Housy that squirted eggs or milt while being released, so I'll bet (or at least hope) there is some wild population there.

Incidentally, every year I catch a few brookies in the Housy, I always figured they were wild, having migrated out of feeder streams, as I have seen wild little brookies in some of the small feeder streams that don't get stocked. Some of the brookies I have caught were fair sized too. I'd be a little bit disappointed to think I just might have caught a brookie that was stocked in Kent Falls or Furnace Brook, etc., although some have been caught well away from any stocked tributaries. I suppose they may migrate too, but it's nice to think there might still be some wild brookies (or browns or bows, for that matter) in the Housy.

[The Fisherman]

Probability of wild (wild being defined as living its entire life in a stream; no hatchery time at all) rainbow trout in the Housy (or any river or stream in CT) is extremely low. Sad, but true.

There have been a few notable exceptions. In 1995, a large rainbow was observed spawning in Kent Falls Brook. Hundreds of rainbow fingerlings sampled earlier that year suggested that spawning had also occured the year before. No wild rainbow trout have been sampled from that stream since then. :cry:

The Little River in Redding had some wild rainbows in it at the turn of the century (boy, that sounds funny...I'm talking about 2000-2001); sadly, again, none since then. I've also heard unsubstantiated reports of wild rainbow trout in small feeder streams in northern CT.

It does happen, but it is exremely rare.

[Chappy]

What about tiger trout? Are they more than likely to perish as well? There have been a few pulled out of the section that I frequent the most. I haven't caught one on the Westfield yet but I've seen them being caught.

[The Fisherman]

I don't know much about the tiger trout's water temp sensitivity. It does have the brown trout bloodline it in (and obviously the brookie, too).

Of course, since the tiger is sterile, it seems like less of a disaster if one goes belly up. I had the good fortune to catch two tigers this year in two different Class 1 WTMAs (both very small streams) so clearly these wild fish were able to survive last year's horrific drought.

:D

[Ghostrydr]

With water temps around 45f in the upper West Branch of the Farmington, the trout should not be stressed. Is this an accurate assumption?

[Z Fisher]

Wow, this is an oldy but goody thread....

Yes, I think your assumptions are correct. In fact, when the temps are that low, it's hard to get the fish to move. :) Mid 50s, low 60s are optimal for trout activity. Unless there's a lot of spring activity (like some small streams) or they're tailwaters (fed out from below a dam like the Farmy and the East Branch Croton) most rivers and streams are very warm, easily in the 70s, this time of year. Unless you're looking to take some stocked :) fish home for the BBQ, fishing warm water streams should be avoided this time of year.

That being said, there are some warmer rivers, like the Housy, that go from being trout streams this time of year to being excellent Smallmouth streams.

[Jon]

Interesting indeed. I was musing to myself the other day (i need to get out more) that "wouldn't it be a good idea to have a staggered close season" to let fish struggle along in high summer without angling pressure. I like the way they do this on the Housy, with no-go thermal refuges.

An aside: A fishing pal had a titanic battle with a rainbow trout "as fat as it was long" on the Croton sunday. Likely a holdover. Maybe he'll be there for me tonight....

K

[The Patriot]

Just to address a popular misconception.... Housy Dave suggested that Browns are more tolerant of higher water temps than Rainbows. I always believed the same thing, and stated such on another flyfishing board. I was supplied a link to some study done at some University out west, and found out that bows are actually more tolerant of warm temps than browns, if only by a matter of 3 or 4 degrees.

Browns are more tolerant of lower oxygen levels, and higher levels of siltation, whereas Bows need higher oxygen levels and cleaner, clearer water, but as far as water temps go, Bows can handle slightly higher water temps than Browns, at least according to this particular study. I was very surprised to read this, always believing the opposite to be true. Of course, warmer water has less oxygen, so that would seem to support the argument that Browns can handle warmer water than Bows, but according to this study, the Bows were more tolerant of warmer water temps than Browns.

If I recall, I think they said the highest water temps for browns to survive was like 72 to 77 degrees, and bows was like 75 to 80. Again, provided higher oxygen and clean water. That's why bows can often be found in the fastest water, especially during summer.... the faster water is more highly oxygenated, whereas the browns will stay in relatively slower water, not being as sensitive to oxygen levels.

Brookies are definitely the most fragile of the three......

[Ghostrydr]

Thanks for the feedback. The Browns I've caught on the upper West Branch the past few days were all in pools, so I guess that theory makes sense.

[kamloop]

3Weight is on the money.Rainbows can tolorate higher temps than browns and of course brooks.Oxygen is everything to trout in warmer water.A pure strain of kamloop rainbows have the best traits for most conditions thats why they are the most popular for industry and sport.

[Eric L]

For some reason rainbows just don't seem to hold over and reproduce successfully in the Northeast. Think about how many millions of them have been stocked over the last 100+ years, yet streams with natural reproduction are the exception, not the rule -- even in tailwaters where high summer temps are not an issue.

I have a theory, which may be partially correct at best, that part of the reason for this is that hatchery-strains of rainbow trout are at least partially derrived from migratory strains of wild fish. On the West coast the ocean is cold enough to support salmonids as far south as the Mexican border. Trout in a warming stream can migrate downstream to the ocean and find thermal relief. This behavior would not be adaptive to trout on the East coast since peak summertime water temps south of Cape Cod are too warm to support trout.

In a nutshell, I think that while brookies and browns head upstream to search for thermal refuges when confronted by warming water temps rainbows may head downstream to their demise under similar conditions.

Just an unsubstantiated thought...

Eric