An Evaluation of the Trout Fishery on the Hiwassee River below Apalachia Dam

Michael P. Luisi and Phillip W. Bettoli
Tennessee Cooperative Fishery Research Unit, Box 5114 Tennessee Technological University, Cookeville, TN 38505, Phone (931) 372 - 3094, Fax (931) 372 - 6257, mpl2836@tntech.edu, pbettoli@tntech.edu

The Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency annually stocks the Hiwassee River below Apalachia Dam with about 100,000 catchable (> 200 mm, TL) rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss and 18,000 catchable brown trout Salmo trutta. However, because of difficulty in sampling this tailwater, the performance and fate of these salmonids was unknown. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the growth, survival and condition of stocked trout. All of the brown trout and four cohorts of rainbow trout were marked using uncoded wire microtags. Monthly samples were taken from February through December 1999 using a whitewater electrofishing raft and a jet powered electrofishing boat. With the exception of the January cohort, growth and survival were poor for all rainbow trout. Brown trout exhibited better growth and survival than rainbow trout; however, long term growth of brown trout on the Hiwassee River was slow, when compared to other Tennessee tailwaters. A survey to estimate the population size and standing crop of trout was conducted in February 1999 and will be repeated in January 2000. The 1999 survey revealed low numbers of holdover trout (59/ha) and biomass (20kg/ha) when compared to other tailwater systems.