High Water Conditions

[390amx]

hey,

does anyone know where all the fish go during high water velocity/conditions? do they "hunker down" or do they get washed down until the current subsides...has the Conservation conducted any studies on fish populations in streams after a major rain/flood? just wondering how all this rain will affect this years spring stream fishing trips....

thanks in advance, - 390amx

[Al Agnew]

Depends upon the species. This time of year, and especially with a relatively warm rain like this present flood is, a lot of fish actually use the high water to move upstream. Even though the currents are very strong, the fish can swim through them and use obstructions to cover a lot of territory. If you're talking about fish like smallmouth bass, they will usually get behind obstructions where they can ride the flood out. At least some of them get into the trees along the former banks and use major tree trunks as current blockers. They may even move far out into the fields to escape the current, but they are very sensitive to when the water levels start to drop, and seldom get trapped. Another place they often move into is the channels of small feeder creeks once the initial run-off out of those creeks subsides. Catfish will use the flood to get out into the flooded fields and forage.

On Current River after our first big flood this year, I was hiking across the wooded bottom and came upon a little left-over pool about 15 feet by 4 feet by 8 inches deep, a good 50 yards from the river. There was a 14 inch trout trapped in it. That's very unusual for the typical native gamefish, but I suspect the trout might not have been so well-evolved to deal with floods.