However, brook trout have been shown to feed at temperatures as low as 34 degrees, and the lethal temperature limit of the brook seems to be around 30 degrees. These head-water areas could be the brook trout’s last refuge here as the rainbows’ upstream movement may be finally limited by physical barriers such as waterfalls or other obstacles created by Park personnel on behalf of the brook trout.īrook trout are inherently cold-water fish, and can perform well within a temperature range of 40 to 68 degrees Fahrenheit. The apparent cause is competition from rainbow trout that were first introduced to this area in 1910 and are slowly displacing the remaining brook trout higher and higher into the region’s headwater streams. In Great Smoky Mountain National Park on the Tennessee-North Carolina border, where log-ging was essentially eliminated with the park’s establishment in 1936, brook-trout populations have continued to decline. There are some brook-trout populations as far south as Georgia along the Appalachian spine, but these have been in decline since at least 1900 and probably earlier, when both logging and overfishing destroyed trout habitat at lower elevation and the more accessible areas of highland streams. Brookie Range and HabitatĪs a general case, brooks are native to the northern half of the eastern United States in addition to eastern Canada. Such a fight is part of their nature, determined in turn largely by their shape.īrook trout prefer cold, clear streams and are the most cold tolerant of all common trout. The powerful, long run of a large rainbow or brown when first hooked is almost always absent with large brook trout, which tend to a bull-dog tugging and twisting fight near the bottom. Their maneuverability is an asset in capturing a wide variety of foods in waters of all depths. If you find teeth all along the roof of the mouth, you didn’t catch a “brookie”.īecause the brook trout is deep bodied in proportion to it’s length, it can swim efficiently in water as shallow as their body depth. The vomerine bone has teeth in a small cluster at its forward end. ![]() If you are still in doubt after checking all the previous characteristics, feel along the center of the mouth’s roof with your fingertip. The highly visible, white-edged fins are a definite disadvantage when it comes to the brook’s predators.Īnother characteristic is a relatively large head and mouth, and the head may amount to one quarter of the body length on adult fish.ĭuring their fall spawning period, the lower flanks of males become brilliant orange and older males may develop a slightly hooked lower jaw. Even when the brook is motionless, the white-edged fins will call your attention to the fish. The brook trout’s pectoral, ventral, and anal fins are starkly edged in white, which again is unique among other common trout. They’ve also been described as the only trout with light spots against a dark background, as the brown and rainbow trout have the opposite spotting pattern (dark spots on a paler background). ![]() The brook trout also typically has many pale yellow spots and a few small red spots surrounded by blue halos on their sides. ![]() The result is a camouflage enabling the brook trout to avoid predators from above such as kingfishers and herons. The brook trout can be recognized by the wavy lines, or vermiculations, on its dark, olive-green back–the same pattern created when the sun shines through rippled water to cast shadows on the bottom.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |