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Rainbow trout were introduced into every major stream in the Smokies prior to the creation of the park, and were periodically stocked in these waters thereafter into the 1970s. Massive stockings of as many as 400,000 rainbow trout were continued through 1947. The brook trout, which lost over half of its original range to the loggers, is now losing additional territory to the rainbow trout. Why the brook trout cannot regain its lost range where habitat conditions have returned to near-normal, and what part the rainbow trout plays in this drama, are not fully understood. Several explanations have been offered, and research into the dilemma continues. A moratorium was placed on the killing of brook trout in the park in 1975. Scores of headwater streams were closed for almost three decades to protect the remaining brookies. In 2002 a number of formerly closed brook trout streams were opened to fishing. In addition, several other brook trout streams that had never closed to fishing amended regulations, allowing anglers to keep brook trout of 7 inches or longer.
Considerable debate remains not only over the future of the brook trout in the streams of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, but also whether these fish are indeed a unique subspecies of brook trout. It has been the subject of more federally funded research projects than the money spent to land on the moon. Reams of research on the brook trout subject has failed to settle the issue to everyone’s satisfaction. In the world of zoology there are two schools of classification: One group lumps barely indistinguishable subspecies such as the yellow-rumped warbler and Myrtle’s warbler into one subspecies. Conversely, the other school splits things to infinity, noting that the Myrtle’s warbler has tail feather vane lengths of 5.6cm, while the yellow-rumprd warbler has a tail feather vane length of 5.4cm. Need I say that this school of zoology is known as the “splitters.”
After exhaustive, incredibly expensive research, there is general consensus that the brook trout of the Smokies (in fact, southern Appalachian brook trout found south of the New River in Virginia) are genetically different than those same fish found north of this dividing line. Since the 1990s a number of studies are in general agreement that brook trout of southern Appalachia are indeed genetically unique. Pure southern-strain brook trout do exist, and in some locales are doing remarkably well. Where northern brook trout have been introduced, and in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park this covers nearly all watersheds, northern-strain brookies and southern-strain/northern-strain hybrids are common. According to some sources, it is not uncommon for northern-and southern-strain brookies to occupy the same waters.
In an ongoing effort to make sure confusion rules supreme in Bedlam, the latest DNA detective work supposes that not only are the specs of the south unique, but that indeed some streamsheds in the Smokies have brook trout populations different even within this microcosm. There is considerable debate regarding just about everything in connection with the future of the southern brook trout. Their average life expectancy is three years or less, which does not work to their advantage. Whether or not they are being assaulted more these days by factors such as acid rain and global warming, two suggestions I personally do not buy into, is a matter of enlightened conjecture. Pressure from rainbow and brown trout is the primary problem. Citing their desire to save the brook trout of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the National Park Service may ultimately need to take more aggressive management approaches.
The Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)
THE VERY NAME OF THIS FISH rings out with a surge of raw energy and beauty. The rainbow trout is well known for unsurpassed fighting ability, arching leaps, and superb eating quality. A powerful downstream run by one of these fish that rips the line from your reel will make you feel as if your heart is trying to bypass your Adam’s apple.
The rainbow trout’s original range extended from California to Bristol Bay in Alaska. This fish prefers fast, oxygenated water. Recognizable by its silvery flanks slashed with scarlet and its greenish back, the rainbow trout is a beautiful fish. Predominantly an insect eater, particularly in the streams of the Smokies, the rainbow will, however, strike spinners and minnow imitations with gusto.
Rainbow trout from the Sierra Mountains of California were shipped to Michigan in 1878. In a few years the adaptable Western natives were providing blue-ribbon fishing in a number of Michigan rivers. Anglers from across the eastern part of the country sought the highly touted rainbow to replace the quickly diminishing brook trout. Rainbows are easily reared in hatcheries, but they were discontented in small streams when suitable habitat in larger waters was open to them. The wanderlust problem is of little concern to fisheries personnel in the southern Appalachian Mountains, where fish are confined to small streams and rivers (except for the existence of a few high-elevation impoundments).
Rainbow trout spawn in spring, with runs normally in February. An interesting change has been observed recently in southern rainbows, with a few fish spawning in the fall. I have caught rainbows from the West Prong of the Little Pigeon in October and early November that were decked out in dark spawning hues and full of roe.
The exact date and site of the first stocking of rainbow trout in the Smokies is not known. There is some contention that landowners stocked them in Abrams Creek in 1900, though no records were kept. At least a portion of the original stock of rainbow trout came from California. However, from where, by whom, and when rainbow entered individual watersheds in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park is at best enlightened conjecture. Today, the rainbow trout is the dominant game fish in the park, having extended its range into every stream system.
Most fish average 7 inches in length and generally do not top 9 inches. However, an occasional 12-to 16-inch rainbow is taken. On rare days, 3-to 4-pound fish are caught. Spawning runs from impoundments (Fontana, Cheoah, and Chilhowee Lakes) often bring large fish upstream for short periods of time, but this usually occurs from late December through February. While it is a misnomer, some locals call this a “steelhead” run, similar to the famous one during the 1950s and 1960s up Doe Creek from Watauga Lake over 100 miles north of the Finger Lakes of the Smokies.
It is a bit ironic that a century ago the spunky little stream trout brought here saved sport fishing in the Smokies but is now reviled by the NPS as an unwelcomed interloper exotic species. As much as I love the specs, the ’bow is still welcomed by me.
The Brown Trout (Salmo trutta)
THE BROWN TROUT was brought to this country from Germany in 1883. Eggs shipped across the Atlantic arrived at a New York hatchery, where they were hatched and planted in local waters. Brown trout stock from Scotland arrived the following year. Fish from the German strain were called German browns or Von Behr trout, and those from Scotland were known as Loch Leven browns. For a number of years, records listed the two fish individually. Today, however, all Salmo trutta in this country are referred to as simply brown trout.
Brown trout were introduced into the Tennessee Valley in 1900. Browns in excess of 25 pounds have been caught in this region; the largest brown known to have been taken in the park was a respectable 16-pounder. A 32-inch 15-pounder was taken in October, 2009 by a client angler, according to Steve Claxton, whose guide service is based out of Bryson City. Although browns were never officially stocked in the Smokies, downstream waters were stocked by both Tennessee and North Carolina fish-and-game agencies in the 1950s. Browns began to appear in the waters of the park as early as the 1940s, and by the 1970s brown trout occupied more than 50 miles of park waters.
Brown trout are primarily insect eaters, with adult mayflies being their favorite food. Frederic M. Halford, the famous English angling writer, wrote of the feeding habits of the brown trout: “The nymphs are the brown trout’s beef, and the adult mayfly his caviar.” A carnivorous creature, the brown will use everything in a stream, from tiny plankton to an occasional brother or sister. In park streams, larger members of this clan are nocturnal feeders. The best time to tie into a big brown in the Smokies is at dusk
