The second test was made on a measured 75 yards of water at two-thirds 

 mile above the mouth. The results of this survey indicated a rainbow trout 

 population of hi legals and uU5 finger lings per mile. The fish ranged in 

 size from 3.2 to 13.7 inches; the smallest mature male was 3.8 inches and 

 th<_ smallest mature female was 8,7 inches long. This stream has not been 

 stocked with trout in recent years; reproduction of the wild fish is ade- 

 quate and fishing pressure is relatively light. 



Porters Creek is the largest tributary of the Little Pigeon River 

 within the Park and joins the mainstream close to the place where the creel- 

 checking station was located. It has about 3 miles of readily fishable water 

 which averages 2\\ feet in width (Burrows 1935). There were Lu2 anglers 

 and 368 trout reported per fishable mile during the 1953 season, a pressure 

 and catch which approaches that recorded for the Middle Prong. Records were 

 obtained from approximately 75 percent of the fishermen on this stream. 



On September 9, 1953, a trial run with cresol was made at a site 1.6 

 miles above the mouth of Porters Creek. Partial effects were obtained in 

 200 jrards of stream, and the estimate of the rainbow trout population was 

 roughly 27 legal fish and 308 fingerlings per mile. A careful survey was 

 made on October 28 at a point 0.3 mile upstream from the mouth. Cresol 

 was applied in a measured 100-yard stretch of water, and the rainbow trout 

 collected indicated a population of 18 legals and 106 sublegals per mile. 

 Several species of forage fishes were numerous at this location. 



Another survey was made on the stream on October 31 about 2 miles up- 

 stream from the mouth, at a site within the limits subjected to a heavy 

 fishing load. The estimate obtained from the 100-yard test area included 

 18 legals and 70 fingerling rainbow trout per mile. Longnose dace were the 

 most numerous among the forage fish species. 



Adult brook trout were planted in Porters Creek by the National Park 

 Service during the two spring seasons following the disastrous flood of 1951 

 which largely destroyed the resident fish populations. It was hoped that 

 the species would reestablish itself here in Its former range. The attempts 

 failed because most of the trout were quickly removed by anglers, and the 

 survivors, if any, failed to reproduce successfully. No brook trout, finger- 

 lings oradults, were taken or observed during the population surveys. In 

 spite of the brook trout stocking, wild rainbow trout contributed more than 

 half the total catch in this stream during 1953 and afforded fair quality 

 fishing throughout the season (table 3) . 



The cresol surveys were inadequate in number, and their results cannot 

 stand alone as reliable indicators of the population densities of trout in 

 the Little Pigeon watershed. However, the estimates are supported some- 

 what by the recent history of fishing in the district, by the catch records 

 obtained at the creel checking station, and by the results of cresol surveys 

 made on other streams in the Park during the same period. 



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