daily possession limit) and the rate of catch 

 exceeded 1 fish per hour of effort. The trout 

 averaged 10.6 inches long and ranged from 8.0 

 to 13.8 inches. They were beautifully -condi- 

 tioned, hard -fighting fish. 



The quality of fishing in the reclaimed 

 waters compared more than favorably with that 

 on upper Abrams. The upper section between 

 Cades Cove and the falls is considered to be 

 one of the best pieces of trout water in the 

 southeast. Yet, the average catch of the 57 

 fishermen checked here during opening week 

 was 4 trout which averaged 9.5 inches long and 

 ranged from 7 to 18 inches. 



A complete creel census on the reclaimed 

 section of Abrams would have been desirable but 

 the partial coverage from May 16 to 22 indicated 

 that an organized census for the season would 

 be impractical . The campground was not so 

 much a focal point for anglers as we thought it 

 would be. The great majority of fishermen were 

 local and they approached remote sections of the 

 stream via trails across the mountains. It was 

 apparent that relatively few of them could be 

 checked unless several creel clerks patrolled 

 the 14.6 miles of stream on foot each day. We 

 relied, therefore, on the statements of park 

 personnel that the quality of fishing held up 

 throughout the season. 



Much of the reclaimed section of Abrams 

 Creek is deep and unwadeable and surveys of 

 fish are difficult to make. AC and DC electro - 

 fishing rigs have been employed on selected 

 sections of the mainstream - with and without 

 the aid of a boat. AC gear and cresol have been 

 used on some of the small and remote tributaries . 



Checks of fishermen and surveys made 

 on Abrams during the summer following the 

 reclamation failed to show the presence of any 

 fish other than stocked rainbow trout. Only 

 rainbows were observed during additional sur- 

 veys in October and November . During the fall, 

 however, there were reliable reports that rough 

 fish were present in considerable numbers in 

 Chilhowee Lake. Observers considered it pos- 

 sible that many coarse fishes were sluiced out 

 of Calderwood Lake and down into Chilhowee at 

 the time that the new lake was filled. It would 

 be, therefore, only a matter of time before the 

 rougji fish would migrate into Abrams Creek. 



Surveys were resumed in March after the 

 severe winter weather abated. Rainbow trout 

 from 3.0 to 8.8 inches long were abundant in 

 Kingfisher Branch but no other species were found. 

 On the other hand, 5 blacknose dace were collected 

 in addition to rainbow trout in the upper waters of 

 Rabbit Creek. The occurrence of blacknose dace 

 was not unexpected since this species is often and 

 singly associated with trout above barrier falls 

 in park streams . No attempt was made during 

 the reclamation to eradicate the dace above the 

 falls on Rabbit Creek . Only rainbow trout were 

 observed in the mainstream in March. 



Electrofishing in the vicinity of Abrams 

 Campground in early April showed the presence 

 of many trout. One rock bass was also taken. 

 Park personnel reported at this time that rough 

 fish were beginning to be observed in the lower- 

 most section of Abrams near Chilhowee Lake. 

 These fish made rapid progress upstream through 

 the summer. In September, 11 species in addi- 

 tion to rainbow trout were collected by electro - 

 fishing in 360 yards of stream near the camp- 

 ground. Included were hogsuckers, stoneroUers, 

 warpaint shiners, blacknose dace, logperch, 2 

 species of darters, bluegill, longear sunfish, 

 yellowbelly sunfish, and rock bass. A 100 -yard 

 station on Rabbit Creek yielded small numbers 

 of StoneroUers, warpaint shiners, and darters 

 which had moved in since the same area was 

 surveyed in March. Many of the rough fish were 

 adults which could not have escaped detection in 

 previous surveys . There is no doubt that they 

 migrated into Abrams and tributaries from the 

 new lake. 



The trout collected in the mainstream in 

 September ranged from 2.9 to 11.6 inches long. 

 The young-of -the -year which hatched in April 

 had made excellent growth and ranged from 2.9 

 to 6.8 inches long. Over 60 percent of this age 

 group were 4 or more inches long whereas the 

 majority of fish of this age in other streams of 

 the park were under 4 inches. The trout col- 

 lected in Rabbit Creek ranged from 3 . 1 to 9 . 4 

 inches and again the 0-age fish showed better 

 than average growth for park streams . The 

 abundance of young-of -the -year fish in Abrams 

 and tributaries was such that no stocking with 

 fingerlings or legals was scheduled for 1959. 



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