A Survey Procedure For Evaluating Stream Fisheries

A survey procedure was developed for judging the relative quality of trout waters and used in surveying streams in National Forests in Georgia, Virginia and South Carolina. The purpose of the survey was to provide land managers with information that would help in making decisions affecting trout streams. The procedure incorporates water quality analysis, fish population sampling, and a comparative evaluation of habitat conditions based on a stream's present and potential capability for producing wild or "native" trout fishing. Drainages surveyed ranged from one to over twenty miles in length.