Andrew P. Wheeler

Creel surveys are a common method for collecting information from anglers, and when biological data are sparse, can provide needed data to help biologists evaluate fisheries. For instance, only 272 trout were collected in gill-net and electrofishing samples conducted annually from 2012-2015 to evaluate an experimental trout fishery in Apalachia Reservoir, North Carolina. Thus, we conducted a 12-mo, non-uniform probability creel survey to determine the return of stocked trout to anglers. Because the impoundment had a remote location, we utilized game cameras at two boating access areas to...

Brown trout (Salmo trutta) and rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) were stocked at two sizes, small (approximately 254 mm TL) and large (approximately 356 mm TL), in Apalachia Reservoir, North Carolina, to determine the best size and species to create a trophy put-grow-and-take fish- ery. Trout were tagged and stocked in December 2012–2015 and collected with annual boat electrofishing and gill-net surveys. Small trout of both spe- cies grew faster in length than large trout; however, brown trout of both size classes reached larger sizes (≥500 mm TL). Large brown trout were highly...