National Park Service acquired the properties. Access to the greater part 

 of the area is limited to foot travel ; private motor vehicles are restricted 

 to the one road, h miles long which connects Greenbrier Cove with Tennessee 

 Route 73 at the Park boundary line. 



The waters of the Little Pigeon and its tributaries are rapid and shal- 

 low, cool, clear, and colorless. The stream beds are composed mostly of 

 boulders and rubble. Pools are grade A, but riffles and bottom food rate 

 about grade B. The streams are not easy to fish; the steep gradients, the 

 rough bottoms, and the dense streamside vegetation makes angling a rather 

 difficult sport. 



King (1937) reported that native brook trout once thrived in this water- 

 shed as low as Greenbrier, at an elevation of 1,600 feet. He thought that 

 heavy fishing pressure and the introduction of rainbow trout were important 

 factors in the subsequent decline of brook trout in all but remote headwaters, 

 Fire and flood also affected the distribution of brook trout in a part of 

 the drainage area. In September 1925, a severe fire swept through the vir- 

 gin forests on the headwaters of Porters Creek. Local residents informed 

 King that, brook trout were present in the headwaters before the fire, but 

 he reported the upper stream was barren in 1937. Indeed, District Warden 

 El Ogle states that Porters Creek, upstream from the mouth of Boulevard 

 Prong has remained fishless to date. Fire ash and sliding earth brought 

 down by subsequent flood were thought to be the responsible agents in 

 killing the trout. Porters Creek and its tributaries w^re ravaged by an 

 unusually severe flash flood in 19S>1. Members of the Park staff have 

 remarked that the flood resembled a tidal wave of black, foul-smelling 

 water, and it its wake many dead trout were found. 



Fishes knoxm to be present in the Little Pigeon River watershed 

 include the eastern brook trout ( Salvelinus fontinalis ), rainbow trout 

 ( Sal mo gairdneri) , Hog sucker ( Kypentelium nigricans ) , blacknose dace 

 ( Rhinichthys atratulus obtusus ) , longnose dace ( Rhinichthys catarsctae) , 

 stoneroller ( Campostoma anomalum ) warpaint shiner ( Notropis coccogenis ) , 

 greenside darter ( Etheostoma blennioides) rock bass ( Atnbloplites r . 

 rupestris ), smallmouth bass ( Micropterus d. dolomieui ) , banded sculpin 

 (C ottus carolinae ) . Other species may be oresent, but they have not been 

 observed to date. The rainbow trout is the only game fish species widely 

 distributed throughout the watershed. Trout have been stocked annually in 

 t>iese waters for many years; in 1953 there were 875, 7-inch to 12-inch 

 rainbow trout distributed in the lower Little Pigeon and 875 brook trout 

 of the same size in the lower section of Porters Creek. 



The 1953 fishing regulations for the Park permitted angling for 

 brook and rainbow trout and smallmouth bass in all except designated 

 closed waters between sunrise and sunset each day from May 16 to 

 August 31. Lures wif-i more than one hook were prohibited. The use of 

 natural bait was allowed, except minnows, dead or alive. Two changes 

 were made in the regulations before the opening of the season: the mini- 

 mum size restriction of 7 inches was restored, and the daily possession 

 limit was reduced from 10 to 7 fish per person. 



