The already stunning colors of Tennessee’s brook trout will become even more intense during spawning.
When picturing something beautiful from nature, most wouldn’t call up the image of a brook trout, simply because of lack of familiarity with this fish. Thankfully, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) biologists do. As a matter of fact, not only do they think this fish is pretty, they’re willing to hike for miles into rough backcountry, carrying heavy loads to ensure brook trout populations remain healthy.
Region 3, TWRA fisheries staff recently visited higher elevation streams within the Cherokee National Forest. The goal of the trip was to study populations of fish in known, habitable sections of stream. This isn’t a walk in a park. Teams carry large amounts of heavy gear including nets and electrofishing equipment to stream sites. They spend hours traversing areas of streams in what is called a three pass depletion survey. An area of stream is passed over three times to ensure the majority of fish are included in the study. Fish are measured and weighed. Depending on the stream, the fish might also be scanned to see if a tag is present, revealing if the fish was hatchery raised
.Brook trout are Tennessee’s only native trout. Found just in the coldest, higher elevation streams, the coloration of this fish is jaw dropping. The description is long and as with most beautiful things, doesn’t do the fish justice. The back of the fish is typically olive green with yellow speckles. The yellow spots continue, along with pinkish-red spots outlined in a lighter bluish color, down the sides of the fish. The bottom of the fish including pectoral, pelvic and anal fins tends to be a contrasting, rusty orange. The bottoms of the fins are lined with a distinct white band.
Their habitat is stunning too. Clear pools found in mountain stream waters that roll over or between boulders covered in captivating, rainforest green moss is where you’ll find this fish. The scene feels tropical this time of year and it forces you to breath in something more than air. However it wasn’t always this beautiful. Logging practices in the late 1800’s into the early 1900’s wiped out the majority of brook trout populations. Despite the ruggedness of the area, it was heavily timbered with little regard for what remained or impact on the larger ecosystem. Nearly ninety percent of the brook trout range has been destroyed in the past 100 years.
Thankfully, a lot has changed. TWRA started work on brook trout recovery in the mid 1970’s. Some might ask why this fish is so important. One only has to study science briefly to understand the connectivity between species and the land. If one strand is out of place, it affects a greater picture. Today, many organizations work to ensure this ecosystem is complete and this fish remains viable in Tennessee’s mountain streams.
Several anglers have this small sportfish on a bucket list. However access to areas where the southern strain brook trout lives in Tennessee make it a challenging fishing trip. If you’re not up to a hard, mountain hike to fish for trout, you can see them at the Tellico Hatchery or visit the Tennessee Aquarium.
TWRA is tasked with the care of all of Tennessee’s creatures. Staff at TWRA easily overlooked the sweat in their eyes and the heavy rain that fell on them on their last hard hike into the mountains. Their eyes were set on the goal of keeping this striking fish healthy, just as their goal is for all wildlife in our beautiful state. To find out more about Tennessee’s biodiversity visit tnwildlife.org and search for SWAP (State Wildlife Action Plan).
TWRA biologists and volunteers navigate boulders, following a mountain stream to find the small pools with brook trout.