Trout spawning: -- The autumn droughts 

 in 1951, 1952, and 1953 seriously affected spawn- 

 ing. Brook trout in the park spawn during the 

 last week of October and the first week of Novem- 

 ber . In the years mentioned, many of the riffle 

 areas were dry or were completely choked with 

 fallen leaves. The trout in isolated pools made 

 many redds, most of which were incomplete , 

 Those redds at the sides of pools were often left 

 dry by shrinking water levels . The survival of 

 ova in some redds may have been jeopardized by 

 the reduced exchange of ground water . Further- 

 more, our collections demonstrated that the dis- 

 tribution of sexes in the isolated pools was very 

 unequal . Thus, recruitment during the three 

 successive years was small . 



Floods 



As so often happens, severe flash floods 

 interrupted the droughts. Furthermore, they 

 damaged the declining trout populations. Follow- 

 ing a dry winter, 4 . 5 inches of rain caused flash 

 floods to sweep the streams on March 1, 1954. 

 The long, summer drought the same year was 

 broken on October 15 by the disastrous Hurricane 

 Hazel which dumped 9 inches of rain on the park 

 headquarters area. Some watersheds received 

 up to 17 inches of rain in that storm. Hurricanes 

 Connie and Etoanne added to the flood damages in 

 August 1955 with 4.6 and 8.8 inches of rain 

 respectively. 



Scouring: - - The steep watersheds proved 

 to be hi^ly susceptible to damage by flash floods. 

 The stream beds were badly scoured, and the 

 numerous fords on access roads and trails were 

 washed out. It was impossible to conduct imme- 

 diate surveys of damages to the streams and 

 fish until the National Park Service repaired the 

 impassable roads. 



The scouring during the March 1954 flood 

 was so impressive that we planned to measure 

 some of the effects of future floods . Boulders of 

 various sizes in and along the stream beds were 

 to be marked with paint and their locations plot- 

 ted on a stream map . Tentative selections 

 which included very large boulders were made 

 on Big Run . Before the plan was implemented, 

 the flood attending Hurricane Hazel swept the 

 stream, and the selected boulders could not be 



found. Indeed, the mile -long section of stream 

 which had contained the boulders as well as abun- 

 dant rubble and gravel was scoured to clean 

 bedrock . 



Damage to aquatic life: -- It is known that 

 floods and scouring cause losses to fish and to 

 fish food organisms. Quite by accident, flood 

 pools were discovered in the woods at some dis- 

 tance from the streams following the March 1954 

 flood. Sac -fry brook trout, blacknose dace, and 

 mayfly nymphs were observed in them . The pools 

 soon dried and the fish and n3anphs were lost. 



It appeared that the flash floods are more 

 damaging to fish and invertebrates when they 

 follow periods of drought. Then, the fish are 

 concentrated in pools, and their physical condi- 

 tion may be poor . Their ability to withstand 

 floods is thus reduced. The presumption is based 

 on the fact that water levels and fish were in 

 better condition in August 1955 when hurricanes 

 Connie and Dianne struck, and the damages to 

 the fish were less. 



Population estimates 



No quantitative estimates of trout popula- 

 tions were made in 1952 and 1953. Young-of-the- 

 year brook trout were extremely scarce in seven 

 streams which were examined in the spring of 

 1953. The fishing, on the other hand, during the 

 May 1 - July 10 season that year was fair. Vol- 

 untary creel census records from 13 streams 

 showed catch rates which ranged from 0.4 to 1 .0 

 trout per hour, and the trout averaged slightly 

 more than 8 inches in length. It was noted, how- 

 ever, that trout over 10 inches long were less 

 numerous than in 1952. 



The trout were obviously in critical con- 

 dition in the spring of 1954 following the fall 

 drought and the March flood. Many appeared 

 emaciated. Estimates were made of the popula- 

 tions in seven streams, based on collections ob- 

 tained with cresol. Only 11 trout over 7 inches 

 long were collected in 1,500 yards of formerly 

 excellent trout waters. The estimates ranged 

 from 1 . 7 pounds of trout per acre in Big Run to 

 7.7 pounds in Piney Run. Moreover, few young- 

 of -the -year and yearling trout were found. As a 

 result, the National Park Service closed all 

 streams in the park to fishing for the year. 



