Savannah River Trout Stocking Evaluation

Ed Bettross
Georgia DNR, Fisheries Section, 142 Bob Kirk Road, Thomson, GA 30824, Phone: 706-595-1619, Fax: 706-595-5639, E-mail: dnrfish@thomson.net

Water temperature, dissolved oxygen, fish species assemblage, and creel data were collected from the 36 mile section of the Savannah River tailwater between Clarks Hill Dam and the New Savannah Bluff Lock and Dam for the purpose of evaluating stocking trout. A test stocking of 10,000 rainbow and 9,500 brown trout was made at the request of the Savannah River Trout Association. Five hundred of each species was tagged. Water temperature exceeded criteria previously used for classifying secondary trout streams in northwest Georgia at most sample locations. Dissolved oxygen concentrations in the uppermost portion of the study area were below minimum state water quality standards for trout water (5.0 mg/l) from July through September. Dissolved oxygen increased but water warmed rapidly as it flowed over the Augusta shoals, 16 miles downstream from Clarks Hill Dam. In the upper 15 miles of the study area, where temperatures remained marginally cool enough for trout survival, oxygen levels were severely depressed. Farther downstream, where oxygen levels were reasonably high, temperature became too high to expect significant trout survival. The study area supports a diverse assemblage of warmwater fish species, many of which could be expected to compete with or prey upon stocked trout. No trout tags were returned and only two trout were recorded in the creel survey. The studied reach of the Savannah River is unable to support trout due primarily to low dissolved oxygen and high temperature.