The trout populations were estimated 

 again in the fall of 1954, shortly after the flood 

 caused by Hurricane Hazel. The summer 

 drought and the flood caused demonstrable 

 losses. There were only 16 trout per acre in 

 Big Run in contrast with 44 per acre in the pre- 

 ceeding March. There were losses also among 

 the smallmouth bass and forage fishes in the 

 lower section of Big Run . Trout were scarcer in 

 Jeremys Run and the North Fork Moorman River 

 than in Big Run, but they were somewhat more 

 numerous in Hney Run and Rapidan River. 



The validity of the estimates of the trout 

 population in 1954 is, however, subject to ques- 

 tion. Both the spring and fall surveys immedi- 

 ately followed flash floods which had terminated 

 periods of low water . Although the sampling 

 was extensive, it could not be justified as repre- 

 sentative of streams which recently had been 

 largely dry. Furthermore, the sampling gear 

 an d procedures for soft water streams were 

 undergoing testing and improvement. We con- 

 cluded that the estimates for this year were 

 probably low. 



THE RECOVERY OF TROUT POPULATIONS 



The small numbers of surviving brook 

 trout spawned successfully in November 1954. 

 This marked the beginning of the recovery of 

 the populations. Water levels remained favor- 

 able after the hurricane flood, and it was the 

 first time since 1950 that spawning conditions 

 were good. 



Park streams remained closed to fishing 

 in 1955 to afford some protection to the few 

 adult trout in the event of another prolonged 

 drought. Fortunately, conditions were less se- 

 vere than in the preceding year . 



Stocking 



An attempt was made in 1955 to acceler- 

 ate the recovery of trout populations in 13 of the 

 46 streams by stocking fingerling brook trout of 

 the Appalachian strain. The experiment was 

 prompted by the good results obtained in stock- 

 ing the same strain in flood-damaged streams 

 in Great Smoky Mountains National Park and in 

 Tennessee streams in 1954. A total of 22,089 



fingerlings which averaged 2.7 inches long was 

 stocked in June. Most of them were fin -clipped 

 to permit future identification . 



The fingerlings appeared to thrive until 

 hurricanes Connie and Dianne brought flash floods 

 in August. Thereafter, only a few were found . 

 The survival in Big Run throu^ the summer was 

 0.7 percent of the 5,500 fish stocked. In contrast, 

 wild young-of-the-year brook trout survived the 

 floods relatively well, despite their smaller 

 size. The stocking was a failure, and none has 

 been attempted since . 



Population estimates 



1955 :-- The populations of brook trout in 

 most of the streams improved greatly in 1955 

 as a result of better water levels which permitted 

 spawning and good survival. Piney Run, one of 

 the good streams in the park, is an example 

 (table 3). There were 115 trout or 8.5 pounds 

 per acre in the fall of 1954. A year later the 

 estimate included 418 trout or 34.5 pounds per 

 acre. 



Whereas most of the increase was due to 

 young-of-the-year fish, there was significant 

 improvement in the condition and growth of the 

 older fish . Reflecting the amelioration of food 

 and water supplies, the coefficient of condition 

 ( R= W X 10 ; Cooper and Benson, 1951) 



of 7- to 11-inch trout increased from 1.41 in 

 1954 to 1.62 in 1955. The latter compares fa- 

 vorably with Cooper's and Benson's mean 

 coefficient of 1 . 65 (range: 1 . 40-2 . 1 1) for a 

 group of 100 wild brook trout collected in the 

 Pigeon River, Michigan, in 1949. The lengths 

 of trout captured in Piney Run in 1954 ranged 

 from 2.9 to 10.4 inches. In 1955, the fish 

 ranged from 2.4 to 11.4 inches long, and 25.7 

 percent of them were over 7 inches long. 



Good reproduction occurred in most of 

 the streams during early November. Many 

 redds with 8- to 12 -inch trout over them were 

 located. Fertilized ova in excellent condition 

 were found in selected redds then, and again in 

 January 1956. 



