North Fork Moorman River. They averaged 

 3.5 inches long on November 29, 1956, and 5.5 

 inches on April 12, 1957. 



The eastern seaboard region from Vir- 

 ginia northward experienced another drought 

 during the summer and early fall (table 2). 

 Streams in the park once again became very 

 low or intermittent, and water temperatures 

 were high. 



The surveys made in December demon- 

 strated that the numbers of trout had decreased 

 (table 3). On the other hand, the weight of trout 

 per acre had increased in some streams and 

 decreased in others. An examination of the 

 length-frequency distribution of trout disclosed 

 that there were far fewer young-of -the -year 

 trout than in 1956 (table 4). The smaller num- 

 bers were the result of poor survival conditions 

 in the summer and the fewer spawners in the 

 fall of 1956. As mentioned previously, the lar- 

 ger adult trout responsible for the abundant 

 reproduction in 1955 were cropped during the 

 1956 fishing season. 



1958:-- Estimates of the fish populations 

 were made only in the spring, and the surveys 

 included 22 streams which were not studied pre- 

 viously. We sought to determine whether the 

 trout had recovered from the disastrous droughts 

 and floods. One or more survey sites were 

 located on each stream . Where only one site 

 was possible, it was located on the lowermost 

 section or most accessible section. We assum- 

 ed that if trout were found at these sites, they 

 would be present in equal or greater numbers 

 upstream or in the more inaccessible sections. 



The numbers of brook trout in 16 of the 

 22 streams ranged from a few to 851 fish per 

 acre. Young-of-the -year trout, 0.9 to 1.5 

 inches long, were observed in most of them . 

 Although no trout were seen or collected in 6 

 streams, it would be unsafe to conclude that 

 they do not exist in the upper waters. 



1959: --Sixteen new streams were in- 

 cluded in the surveys. Three were barren of 

 trout, and the estimates for the others ranged 

 from 16 to 1,744 trout per acre. The populations 

 were relatively good in the 5 streams which 



had been surveyed in previous years . The data 

 indicate that of the larger and more heavily 

 fished streams. Big Run, Piney Run, and Rapidan 

 River are better producers of trout than the North 

 Fork Moorman River . 



Growth of trout 



The growth of brook trout was relatively 

 rapid during the period of population recovery. 

 Henderson (1950) listed the ages of brook trout 

 which he collected in Shenandoah streams in the 

 fall of 1950. The trout were abundant at that 

 time, and their growth was slower than that of 

 trout we collected in 1956-57. For example, 

 among the trout sampled in Big Run, age II fish 

 ranged from 4.0 to 7.9 inches long in 1950 and 

 from 6.0 to 10.9 inches long in 1956-57. Age III 

 fish ranged from 5.0 to 9.9 inches in 1950 and 

 from 8.0 to 12.9 inches in 1956-57. 



In general, the growth of brook trout was 

 more rapid in the warmer streams. Thus, trout 

 in the North Fork Moorman River and Big Run 

 grow slightly faster than in Piney Run. Rainbow 

 trout also grew well in the North Fork . The 

 1956 year class averaged 3.5 inches in November 

 of that year and 7.8 inches long in December 

 1957. 



Furthermore, two-year-old brook trout 

 in park streams in April 1957 ranged from 6.0 

 to 12.9 inches long whereas 35 wild trout of the 

 same age from a productive New Hampshire 

 stream in July 1957 ranged from 6.0 to 9.9 

 inches . Most of the Shenandoah fish were in the 

 9.0-9.9-inch group and most of the New Hamp- 

 shire fish were 7.0-7.9 inches. 



Among 86 legal size, brook trout 

 (9.0-12.9 inches long) which were captured by 

 anglers or during surveys on Big Run and Piney 

 Run in 1956 and 1957, 23 trout were beginning 

 their third summer; 57 their fourth summer; 

 and 6 their fifth summer. No 5 -year -old fish 

 were taken by us at any time. 



12 



