The word fontinalis, the brook trouts' Latin name, means "living in springs." An environment which offers permanently cold, clear, spring-fed water is its ideal habitat. Plenty of cover, including submerged and overhanging branches, logs, and rocks are a necessity, making the reading of structure an important element in angling for brook trout.

Distribution

Eastern brook trout originally ranged in cold-water creeks and streams from Georgia to Labrador and west to Saskatchewan. They were not found west of the Mississippi River except in areas of Minnesota and Iowa.

Now, the range of the brook trout is much more extensive due to the introduction of the species into waters all over the world. There have been plantings in rivers as far away as Argentina.

Requirements

The fish needs cold, clear running water. It prefers water up to three feet deep which has a steady flow. Rapids which provide holding water are favored locations for particularly large fish.

Brook trout prefer streams with a gravel bottom but do inhabit silt-bottom beaver ponds for a few years. When the beaver ponds become clogged with debris and the flow of water is impeded, the fish disappear.

Temperature is a key factor in determining the habitat of the species. The optimum temperature is from 57° F. (14° C) to about 68° F. (20° C) for most of the stages in its life, however some brook trout can survive the absolute maximum tolerance of 75° F. (24° C). The fish will move into deep lakes to find cool water during the heat of the summer.

A suitable supply of oxygen and proper pH is also a necessity. Acid water is very soft water with very little carbon -- the basis of life. As a result it holds few fish. Medium water is neutral and carries four times the trout population that soft water holds. Hard water is a rare happening, generating the fabled fishing waters of England, Pennsylvania, Montana, and New Zealand. In it you will find large, fast-growing fish, sustained by the abundance of insects, baitfish, and other aquatic life.

Management

Quality fishing depends on quality water. Unfortunately, the loss of trees and denudation of cover along the streams by agricultural practices and lumbering have created erosion of soil and warming of the water. The eroded silt clogs spawning gravel and buries aquatic insects. The sun beating down on unshaded water can raise temperatures several degrees in a lay.

Free-flowing streams have been dammed for swimming holes and for Fishing. Ironically, the latter is useless For brook fishing since the fish cannot exist in warm swimming-hole waters.

Fisheries people have put considerable time into research about habitat improvement. They're discovering that there is a relationship between trout populations and nutrients which are found not only in trout water but also surrounding it as well. However, proper land use alone will not make the stream more suitable to trout productivity. A multiple-use program which considers both soil and water management is needed.

I have already mentioned that restocking streams with hatchery-reared fish is common practice, but one of the most effective ways of maintaining a population is to improve conditions for its natural reproduction. A water supply that is physically, chemically, and biologically suitable is something about which we all should be concerned.

If you're a "brookie" lover, you're already aware of the benefits of good management. You've discovered that proper habitats will produce a nine or ten-pound beauty while another fish of the same age in poor waters will weigh only a few ounces. On the other hand, going for trophy-size fish can be detrimental to the sport. Catching and keeping only the largest contributes to the breeding of small fish. Perhaps there's good argument here for selective voluntary release.

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