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Winter Trout Movements 



The studies of Stefanich (1951), Logan (1961), Lewis (1967) 

 and Leathe and McMullin (1984) support the conclusion that 

 the vast majority of resident trout inhabiting Montana's 

 mountain streams are found year-round within a relatively 

 limited home territory. This applies to mountain streams 

 in other areas of North America as well (Miller, 1957 and 

 Rinne, 1982) . 



In contrast to these findings, Chapman and Bjornn (1968) 

 reported that salmonids in some Idaho streams move 

 downstream in the fall, a response attributed to declining 

 water temperatures, with non-anadromous species often 

 returning upstream in the spring. Mallett (1953) reported a 

 downstream movement of westslope cutthroat trout in the fall 

 and an upstream movement in the spring in the Middle Fork of 

 the Salmon River. Similar movements of westslope cutthroat 

 trout have not been observed in Montana (Montana Department 

 of Fish and Game, 1979 and Graham et al, 1980). 



Wickers et al (1982) used implanted transmitters to 

 investigate the movements of brown trout under surface ice 

 cover in the Laramie River, Wyoming. Near freezing water 

 temperatures were found to significantly decrease movements. 

 When ice cover and low water temperatures first occurred, 

 brown trout showed an increase in movement, attributed to 



