The following schedule is from the 72nd Annual Conference of the Southeastern Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies which was held October 21-24, 2018 in Mobile, Alabama.
AUTHORS: Amanda Bushon, Jacob C. Rash, David Yow, A. Powell Wheeler – North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission
ABSTRACT: Brown trout (Salmo trutta) and rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) of two sizes, small (254 mm TL) and large (380 mm TL), were stocked in Apalachia Reservoir to determine the best size and species to create a trophy (=600 mm TL), put-grow-and-take fishery. Brown trout and rainbow trout were tagged and stocked in December 2012–2015, collected with annual boat electrofishing and gill-net surveys, and evaluated via a 12-month angler creel survey (2014–2015). Small rainbow trout grew at a faster rate within the first four months, but brown trout, both large and small, reached larger sizes (=500 mm TL). Brown trout were able to reach larger sizes because they persisted in the reservoir longer than rainbow trout. Large brown trout gained an average of 30.8 g/month (SE = 13.5) within four months of stocking while the small brown trout and rainbow trout only gained 8.5 (SE = 1.9) and 15.3 g/month (SE = 1.6), respectively. Large brown trout were highly piscivorous within the first four months after stocking, whereas the smaller trout of both species fed primarily on macroinvertebrates. During the angler creel survey, brown trout were caught and harvested more frequently than rainbow trout; approximately 60% of all trout caught and 76% of all trout harvested were brown trout. Brown trout were more popular with anglers, persisted longer in the reservoir and reached larger sizes than rainbow trout. Considering angler preference and performance of brown trout, we recommend continued stocking of brown trout at both sizes.
