Comparative Recovery to the Creel, Movement and Growth of Rainbow Trout Stocked in the Great Lakes
- 1 April 1971
- journal article
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in Transactions of the American Fisheries Society
- Vol. 100 (2) , 336-349
- https://doi.org/10.1577/1548-8659(1971)100<336:crttcm>2.0.co;2
Abstract
Stocking of hatchery‐reared rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri) in the Great Lakes may be a valuable management practice because the survivors, when caught by anglers, are relatively large fish. In this study we planted 132,973 tagged rainbow trout during 1955–59 at 29 locations along Michigan shores of the Great Lakes and Burt Lake. Three stocks of 2‐ to 3‐year‐old trout were used: (1) progeny of Michigan hatchery brood stock, (2) progeny of Great‐Lakes‐run rainbow trout and (3) progeny of sea‐run rainbow (steelhead) trout from the State of Washington. Matched plants were used to study four factors that might have influenced recovery rates, namely: (1) month of planting, (2) stock of trout, (3) size of trout, and (4) location of planting (stream versus lake). These, and other plants, also provided information on movement, growth and maturity of rainbow trout in the Great Lakes. The effect of the four factors on angler catch and trout movement and growth was determined by voluntary reports of recoveries by anglers and commercial fishermen. Since our objective was to assess methods of providing relatively large fish for the angler, we used only records on fish which had grown 3 inches or more since planting. These fish added up to 1.2% of the total planted; the rates ranged from 0.0 to 9.3% among the many plantings. For the factors studied, we found: (1) May plantings produced the highest returns, (2) the three stocks did not differ consistently in returns, (3) larger fish gave better returns than smaller fish, and (4) lake planting of the Michigan hatchery stock produced better returns than stream planting. For the plants as a group, the fish ranged widely, and only about 50% of the recovered fish homed to the planted stream. In the Great Lakes, planted trout grew from an average total length of 8.8 inches to 16.4 in one growing season, and to 21.4 in two growing seasons. Most trout were recovered in spawning streams during spring and autumn, and within 2 years of the planting date.This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: